Here In The Now
by Mr-Worth-A-Read
Summary: A Navy SEAL team is inserted into Kyrgyzstan to assassinate Vladimir Makarov, though when the mission goes awry, they are left stranded in enemy territory and must fight to stay alive as they put up a desperate last stand against almost an entire army. Prequel to That was Then, This is Now by WheresDaBeef. Rated T for frequent violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**After another few months of being AWOL thanks to exams and studying, I've returned with another story. This one is a prequel to** ** _That Was Then, This Is Now_** **by WheresDaBeef and KING112, and so, two of the main characters; Charlie and Tommy, belong to WheresDaBeef, the other two; Lee and Dwight, are mine. You can check out TWT,TIN here: s/9987209/1/That-Was-Then-This-Is-Now  
** ** _EEENNNJJJOOOYYY_**

Chapter 1:

"It's the same as always. We plan to do something, then you start taking calls in the other room and you disappear." Sophie Hawkins said angrily over the phone.

US Navy SEAL SSGT. Lee 'Tombstone' Hawkins grumbled. "You say that like I do it deliberately." He retorted. "I don't have any control over what happens and when I'm needed." There was a long pause. "Are you sure about that? You're only really alive when you're out there. Admit it!" Lee was angry now. "That's not true and you know it. I love you and I want to make a life for us so we can have a kid or two. We can sort this out when I get back home. I love you Sophie." He finished before hanging up and putting the cell phone on the drawer next to him.

Collapsing onto the bunk nearby, he lay staring blankly up at the ceiling when Dwight stepped in the door. "Yo!" he greeted him as he crossed the room to his own bunk. "You got that shit sorted out with your wife yet?" he asked, half serious, half joking as he rooted around in a duffel bag he had dumped on the bed. The quarters simply screamed _Sergeant Dwight 'Dice' Diaz_ , with dozens of magazines strewn haphazardly near the bunk, an Ohio flag pinned to the wall above his MK.12, which hung ready on a rack.

"Found it!" He exclaimed, taking a laptop out of the bag before climbing into a chair as he opened it. "What's the big deal?" Lee asked, curious as he looked across the room to his fellow SEAL. "Dom just emailed me a video. 'Said I had to watch it before we rotate back next month." Lee shrugged and grabbed a book off of the top of the drawer and flipped through the pages until he found where he was up to. He was hoping to finish the book by the end of the day as he only had a few chapters remaining. It was at that moment that another figure appeared in the doorway. It was their communications expert, Charlie Tyler. Her real name was Charlotte, though Charlie had seemed to stick instead. "Lee, Dwight. You're needed. Tommy wants to go through briefing for a new op." she said. "Meet up's in the tech room in five."

As Dwight groaned behind him, Lee clambered out of his bunk and shouldered a duffel bag of equipment, carefully lifting his MK.12 SPR off of its' rack on the back wall. "A new op?" Dwight asked. "We're in Kyrgyzstan, bang-smack in the middle of fuckin' nowhere!" By that point, Lee was already out of the door and heading down the corridor. They had been based in Kyrgyzstan ever since the Russian Civil War had broken out. Higher ups in the US Government saw the Ultranationalists as a major threat, even with their leader, Imran Zakhaev, dead. Everyone knew that the Loyalists would never win, so it was only a matter of time before Russia returned to its' Soviet roots.

Forward Operating Base Thunder was a large complex near the Chinese border. It had a moderate population of all-military personnel. The operations room was, ironically, barely used due to the quiet nature of the location. This time, however, the room was almost packed. A dozen other SEALs and Night Stalkers stood around the room, all listening intently. At the far wall of the room was a whiteboard with a couple of photographs and markings on it. Next to the whiteboard was Lee's team leader; Lieutenant Thomas 'Tommy' Tyler, Charlie's brother. "Back from your marital issues, Tombstone?" he asked as he watched Lee enter the room. "You two should try counselling." He joked, getting a few chuckles from the others around them.

"Anyway, back to business." He said, looking to the board next to him. "I think we all know Vladimir Makarov." Lee knew who he was. He was the new de-facto leader of the Ultranationalists, notorious for a long list of war crimes. Vladimir Makarov was a sick son of a bitch. "Well, he's about to become familiar with a round of five-five-six, courtesy of us." Several soldiers mumbled amongst each other. "He is currently hiding in a Safehouse several klicks north east of here. The compound is guarded day and night by the Ultranationalists' best. With almost a hundred foot-mobiles and a lot of vehicles, it's a small army over there: so that means a direct firefight is not an option." Tommy explained, pointing to several satellite images, showing different clusters of gunmen and trucks.

He then gestured to another satellite image, this one zoomed out to show the surrounding mountains. "We will insert at the southern base of the mountain at Twenty-One-Hundred and hike our way to the target area overlooking the compound, kill Makarov and head to this plateau here and signal for extraction." Tommy then looked around at the other men and women in the room. "Best of luck, folks. Lets' gear up and get evil."

…

"So who gets the launcher?" Dwight asked, lifting up a suppressed M4 with an underbarrel grenade launcher. "Charlie can have it." Tommy replied, she's got the best aim aside from you and Lee." The SEAL nodded, handing the carbine to his squadmate before going back to his own weapon.

Lee picked up his sniper rifle again, clicking a magazine into the receiver of the MK.12, checking that the sights were aligned. He then set the rifle aside and got his sidearm; a Vickers' Tactical M1911, sliding the pistol into a holster on his chest just below the American flag on his tactical vest. He likely wouldn't need the pistol, as they were going for a stealthy approach, though he had the weapon with him in every op, for luck more than anything else.

A few mags for the rifle, a pair for the 1911 and his ammunition was sorted. He picked up a couple of frags and some smoke grenades, clipping them onto his vest before slinging his sniper and turning to the others. "Anyone else ready to kick some Russian ass?" he asked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two has arrived. Many thanks for the support, it is greatly appreciated, please keep it coming :) I'm going to try and get as many chapters out as I can over the week to get the ball rolling and bring out the story more.**  
Chapter 2:

"Sixty seconds!" One of the chinook crew called out to the four members of the team, who sat ready to disembark from the helicopter. Tommy nodded and looked around at the others. "You heard that right. Stack up." The others stood up in the cargo bay, waiting for the signal to go.

Lee felt the helicopter lower down to the ground as he watched the rear hatch open. It was dark outside and the lights inside the bay illuminated a small patch of the field around them. "Go! Go!" Tommy barked before hopping off of the ramp into the clearing, followed by Dwight, Charlie and finally Lee. "You guys are some crazy mother fuckers, you know." The chinook crewman said as he watched them disembark. "We're Frogmen." Lee replied, "We're supposed to be."

Jogging down the ramp, he exited the helicopter and came to a crouch near the others. With his rifle aimed, he scanned the nearby area, checking for any potential hostiles. Nothing. It was the dead of night and the gentle warm breeze was the only cause of motion, causing the grass to slowly sway left to right. "You're good!" He heard Tommy call back to the pilot in the helicopter. The rotors began to pick up speed, causing the grass in the field to flatten out around them as the craft slowly lifted off of the ground. Within a matter of moments, the chinook was but a tiny speck in the night sky. That was it. It was just the four of them now.

Tommy stood, planting the stock of his M4 into the dirt as he looked at his watch, which had a built-in compass. "Alright. Now we have to head north up over the peak. We need to be at the target area by One AM." He looked at the others. "It's a bit too late to say you brought the wrong shoes for hiking." The Lieutenant joked as he started walking. Lee got up and followed. It was a long walk ahead of them and they had to start somewhere.

…..

"Are we there yet?" Dwight asked, half joking. "Cos I could just about use a break right now." Charlie groaned in annoyance. "Take a guess." She replied, "We've been walking for thirty minutes. Get over it." Lee decided to change the subject to distract Dwight, -he may have been the best sniper in the team, but his endurance was terrible for a SEAL.  
"What was the video about that you were watching earlier?" He asked. The team sniper shook his head. "Nah, it was an inside joke, man. You wouldn't get it." Dwight replied. "It's something me and Dom got into a couple of days ago."

Lee nodded. "Ah, alright." He looked to Tommy. "So what happens after we waste this guy?" he spoke. "Killing Makarov will cut the head off of the Ultranationalist forces. Hopefully that might just give the Loyalists the chance they need to win."  
"In English dude. _English._ " Lee answered. Tommy sighed as he had to explain. "That means Russia might not turn into the Soviet Union 2.0. That's a _good_ thing."

Another hour or so passed, and the team were nearing the peak of the small mountain. Over the other side was the valley in which Makarov's Safehouse was located. It was still some time before the sun came up, so they would still be under the radar for the most part.

Tommy came to a halt, quickly scanning the area before turning to his sister. "Alright, Charlie. Radio base and let them know we've reached the top." He then turned to the two snipers. "It's time for a break." Charlie nodded, kneeling down as she took off her radio pack. She passed the small plastic antennae to Dwight. "You mind putting this somewhere high up?" She asked. Dwight plucked the radio antennae from her hand and hopped up onto a rock formation, reaching as high as he could to rest the small device in a high branch on a tree.

Flicking through the channels, she found the one she needed. "Lightning Base, this is Lightning Zero-One. Come in." Charlie spoke into the headset. "Come in Lightning Base." The radio crackled for a moment, followed by indecipherable audio, which cleared up into the sound of someone speaking. "Roger that, Lightning Zero One. What is your situation, over?"

….

Major-General Dennis Garret was sat in his office, sifting through a large stack of papers as he occasionally took a sip from a mug off coffee. A former Vietnam veteran, he had built up a long service record, meeting all kinds of famous faces such as Presidents Johnson and Carter and his old friend and fellow Army General Hershel Shepherd. The latter was alongside him in a photograph that sat on his desk. He looked at the photograph for a moment. It was a while since he had seen Shepherd in person, as he had been tasked to command forces in the Middle East, whilst Garret was over here on the border of China. He took another sip of coffee and looked at his work agaion when there was a knock at the door.

"General Garret?" A man spoke as he stood in the doorway. It was Captain Morton, another distinguished vet, hailing from Airborne. He was the commanding officer for the local regiment of Special Forces Aviators. "How can I help you, Captain?" Garret replied. The soldier stood straighter. "The SEAL Team has just radioed in, sir." He answered. Garret nodded, getting to his feet. Walking past his desk, he followed the Captain out of the office to the operations room, where several officers stood around one of the consoles, one of them talking to someone on their headset.

He approached the man with the headset. "Could you put it on loudspeaker?" he asked. The man replied and unplugged his headset, allowing the voice of Sergeant Charlotte Tyler as he plugged in the microphone.

"Sergeant, this is General Garret. What is your situation, over?" There was a couple of seconds delay. "Sir, we've reached the peak and are preparing to head over the other side." Charlie explained, her voice slightly fuzzy over the long distance. "Should be at the target area before sunrise." Garret folded his arms. "Outstanding, soldier. What's your estimated time for mission completion?" He asked her.

….

"About another four hours, General." Charlie spoke into the receiver. "Will contact again after target is down." She added. "Solid copy. God's speed, SEALs." Garret spoke. "Lightning Base out."  
Charlie put down the radio, clicking the receiver back into the backpack. "Dwight." She called out. "Get the antennae."

As the sniper got up to grab the antennae back from up the tree, Tommy sat down on one of the rocks. "We'll stay here another ten minutes. Then we cross over the other side and head to the sniper position."


	3. Chapter 3

**Back again. I wanted a segment in here to be like that moment in CoD 4 in All Ghilied Up when you have to lie motionless as a massive swarm of enemies walks around you, which is equally as nerve racking to play now as it was back in my first playthrough about 9 years ago. Try listening to this to try and set this chapters' atmosphere:  
watch?v=fjX74eZrh-Q  
** ** _EEENNNJJJOOOYYY!_**

Chapter 3:

Lee could see for miles below as they passed over the top of the peak, overlooking the valley below. Millions of green trees filled the massive space with a tiny black speck on the far end of the valley; Makarovs' Safehouse. The night sky had turned purple, and was slowly but surely getting brighter as the sun got closer and closer to appearing over the horizon. It was getting warmer despite the breeze beginning to pick up, they only needed to walk about another half mile or so, to a ridgeline below them where they had an excellent viewpoint on the compound, from which they could pick off Makarov with ease.

Tommy stopped dead, raising his fist to order the others to halt. He beckoned to them to hunker down and seek cover. "Enemy foot patrol on the right." He said. "Six men, automatic rifles." The four SEALs had blended into the forest backdrop as the cluster of armed men walked by. "Do NOT go loud." Tommy whispered. For Lee, it was close to impossible. He lay curled up behind a fallen log, three enemies stood on the other side of the log, oblivious to his proximity. Holding his breath, he looked down at his rifle, his thumb ready on the safety. If any of the three Russians looked in his direction, he would spot him for sure.

 _Don't move! Don't move!_ He told himself. His lungs ached and he closed his eyes, trying to suppress his need for air as he hoped that the three soldiers would move soon. What felt like hours passed as the three stayed, talking to one another. Lee didn't speak Russian and had no clue what they were saying, though it sounded calm and casual; they still didn't know he and his team were there.

 **"Let's get moving again."** One of Russians said. **"I want to get back by sunrise."** The other nodded, slinging an AK. **"Couldn't agree more, this lack of sleep is killing me."**  
Eventually, the three soldiers began to move. One of them called out to the others. **"Nevski! We're moving on!"**

As the Russians began to leave, Lee let out a sigh of relief. Rolling over, he slowly peeked his head up over the log. Across from him was one more Russian, smoking a cigarette. Lee could just see the outline of Tommy in the bushes behind the soldier, silently waiting for the enemy to move. Dropping the cigarette, the Russian stomped it out before following the others off up the side of the mountain.

After about another minute, the coast was clear and the SEALs began to emerge from the foliage. Dwight planted his gun in the dirt and sat on the log, laughing. "Damn, we were so close to getting boned." He smirked. "Just glad I didn't shit myself." The sniper began to laugh.  
"Yeah cos if that happened, they'd smell you a mile away, Dwight." Charlie replied, jokingly. "How far to the target point?" she asked Tommy. The Lieutenant pointed down the slope to a nearby ridgeline. "There." He said. "Race you there."

….

"Lee, Dwight. Get into position." Tommy ordered, readying his M4. "Charlie and I will sweep the area and set up a perimeter." Lee gave him a thumbs up, unfolding the bipod on the underside of his sniper rifle. He hunkered down and lay on the rock face, setting the rifle up, pushing the buttstock into his shoulder. "Dom's got money on me getting Makarov, you know." Dwight said to him, prepping his sniper rifle. "And I do not want to disappoint."  
"I honestly couldn't give a shit." Lee replied. "Lets' just waste this fucker and get back home." He said, looking down the scope.

….

Tommy slowly crept through the forest with his carbine at the ready. Looking down the mountainside, he could see the lights of the Safehouse still glowing a warm yellow. Vladimir Makarov, a bloodthirsty terrorist was living in luxury in a private cabin, whilst he and his team were out here in the wilderness. Tommy smirked at the thought. Well, he wouldn't be living in luxury much longer.

Movement up ahead caused him to stop. He could see the outline of a person cautiously moving through the foliage about a hundred feet ahead of him. Was it that patrol from earlier? He thought. No, his team would be long gone before they came back around. Flicking off the safety of his rifle, he hovered his finger near the trigger, taking aim through the ACOG sight. He was about to fire when the figure wheeled around, raising a weapon of their own. "Shit! Its' me! It's me!"

"Jesus, Charlie!" Tommy replied, lowering his gun. "I almost shot you!" Charlie shrugged sheepishly, grinning. "You need to get your eyes tested. I could imagine you with glasses." Tommy flipped his sister the finger. "My ass. You got the left cleared?" he asked. "Yep. Nothing but trees and more trees. You got right?" The SEAL nodded. "We'll check the ground above the ridgeline and head back."

….

Getting his bearings, he found the compound. It was an impressive structure, a large fancy cabin that looked more like a millionaire's getaway than the Safehouse of a wanted terrorist. Adjusting the scope, Lee zoomed in and focussed the image. The blurry sight cleared, showing a dozen guards standing outside a gate. A couple of cars were outside. Military types with more guards. Lee checked the surrounding area. More gunmen, more cars. No Makarov. He tried the upstairs windows. Nothing. _Where is this bastard?_ He thought.

On the third floor, he spotted a large room with a table in the centre, a handful of men standing around it. None of them were his target, though he had a feeling Makarov would eventually show up in there.  
"Yo, Lee." Dwight said. "You got eyes on that meeting room?" he asked. Lee nodded, checking his watch. The sun would be up soon, so sooner or later, their target would have to show his face.

….

Hours had passed, Lee and Dwight lay motionless on the ridge. Tommy and Charlie had set up a perimeter and hunkered down not far behind them. It was morning now. The sun was climbing high into the sky over the mountains southeast of them, casting the valley in an orange glow. For January, it was as warm as a summer's day. Lee imagined himself lying in a deck chair at a barbeque with a beer in his hand, closing his eyes behind a pair of sunglasses to take a nap.

 _Back to reality._ He thought, looking around him. Dwight grinned like a child before going back to his sniper. He checked the meeting room again. The lights were off now as the sun was up. A few more people were in the room, looking like mercenaries of sorts, but one figure stood out. He wasn't dressed in military gear, but rather casual clothes. He looked out of place.  
"Hey, Lee." Dwight asked. "Is that Makarov?"  
"Oh it's him alright."


	4. Chapter 4

**The story should be picking up from here. I know my chapters are extremely short, but later ones should be longer as more happens. Anyway,**

Chapter 4:

Vladimir Makarov stood in the meeting room of the Safehouse. He looked at the clock on the wall, it was only the early hours of the morning. But he wanted to get things underway before heading back to Moscow. "Gentlemen, please take a seat." He said to the figures stood around him. Most of them were top officials in his inner circle; former field commanders and officers of the Russian army. Once they crushed the last remnants of the Loyalists, the men who sat around the table would be the leaders of a new Russia, a far stronger Russia.  
"The Civil War is almost won." He said. "Major Petrov has informed me that yet another Siberian airbase is under our control. As commanding officer of the facility, he ordered anyone still loyal to the old government shot and their bodies disposed of." Makarov explained. "Even with Zakhaev gone, we are an unstoppable behemoth –he was only a catalyst for our movement. If America wants to intervene, they will simply be asking to be hit hard by our wrath."

"I called you here today to discuss our plans for how the new Russia will be run." He looked around at several of the officers, "We will have a re-hauled government, a re-hauled military and a re-hauled country. I ask for volunteers who are capable enough for positions of high power."

….

"Tommy. We have a visual on Makarov." Lee said into his mic. "Waiting on you for the order." There was a long delay. "Are you sure it's him?" The Lieutenant asked. Lee nodded "Certain. I can walk over and ask him in person if you want."

….

Tommy sat at the base of a tree, his earpiece in as he talked to the two snipers over their local comm channel. _Smartass_ He thought when he heard Tombstone's reply. "Keep a bead on him for now. We'll contact bas, first." He waved to his sister, beckoning her over. "What's the sitrep?" Charlie asked.  
"Makarov is in the building. Lee and Dwight are waiting for a go-to to fire." He explained to her. "I need a direct line to base." Charlie complied, unshouldering her pack, setting it down as she set up the radio, handing Tommy the receiver, giving him a thumbs-up to start talking.

"Lightning Base. Lightning Zero-One, here." He said. "We have conferment visual on target. SEALs Tombstone and Dice are awaiting order to fire." General Garret was on the other end. "Understood." The voice replied. "Lightning Zero-One, if you have a shot; take it. I repeat, you are _go_ for kill." The SEAL Lieutenant acknowledged, turning off the radio and passing it back to Charlie. In an instant, he was back on local comms.  
"Dwight, Lee, you are go for firing. Take the shot."

….

"Affirmative." The two said simultaneously. "Nothing fancy." Lee said to his squadmate. "Go for kill-shots, not head-shots." Dwight nodded. "Yeah, sure." He said, aiming down his rifle again as Lee did the same. He set the crosshairs over Makarov. He wasn't wearing body armor so a shot to the chest would surely kill him; if he aimed for the head, he would have a higher chance of missing his target. His MK.12 wasn't designed for firing over very long distances, especially with a wind blowing. The breeze was going to the left, so aiming into it, the sniper took wind and drop-off into account, aiming above and to the left of his target. His finger tensed on the trigger when Dwight said something.

He didn't hear what he said and put it out of mind, trying to regain his focus. "Don't fire!" Dwight repeated himself. Lee looked at him in surprise "I can ice this fucker!" He replied before his squadmate abruptly grabbed his arm. "Get down!" Dwight hissed as he tugged him back into the bushes behind their position. Pulled away from his position, Lee could see movement on their left. It was the patrol from earlier, coming back around. "What the fuck are these guys doing?" he asked. "They're way too early!"

" _Tommy!_ " He whispered into his mic. " _Patrol's back. They're right on top of us!_ " There was no reply. " _Tommy!_ " the sniper hissed again, more desperate. Dwight shook his head at him. _Of course! They were also lying low._ He realised. The five men dispersed, a couple of them casually walking past the sniper spot. No matter how still the two SEALs were, it was only a matter of moments before one of the Russian patrolmen accidentally stumbled across them.

" _Tombstone, Dice._ " Tommy's voice whispered over the comms. That made Lee nervous; he rarely addressed them by their callsigns. " _Unlikely we can sit this one out. We're going to have to go loud._ " That wasn't good. If they opened fire, their cover would be blown, regardless of if they managed to wipe out the patrol quickly. Lee flicked off the safety on his rifle, turning on the mini red dot sight fixed atop of the scope before picking his target. It was a middle-aged man in camouflaged mountain gear, with a G3 hanging on a sling at his side. " _I've got the guy on the right_ ," He whispered to Dwight " _You go for left."_ The SEAL nodded, taking aim.  
" _Go!_ "

Their suppressed weapons coughed and the two nearest Russians slumped simultaneously. Yelps of shock burst out as Lee heard Tommy and Charlie ambush targets of their own, leaving one final Russian left, who froze with shock before Tommy launched out of the bushes, combat knife in hand. In a single motion, he swung around the soldier and cut his throat. Keeping a hand over the soldiers' mouth as he made a few muffled groans and gurgles, he slowly set him down as he went still.

Slowly emerging from the foliage, Lee set his rifle back on safe as he approached the others. "Damn." He exclaimed, looking around at the dead patrol members. "Lets' hope no-one heard that." He said. "Agreed." Tommy replied, walking up to him. "Get back into position and drop Makarov ASAP." He said. "Faster we're outta here, the better."

"Wait a minute." Dwight interrupted. "Wasn't there six guys in that patrol?" He asked, recalling to their earlier encounter the night before. "Why does that matter?" Charlie replied. The sniper looked up at her in concern as he knew something wasn't right.  
"We only killed five."

In an instant, the four SEALs raised their weapons, scanning for the final hostile. "We need to find him" Tommy stated. "Chances are, he just stopped for a piss. But if he gets down to the Safehouse and lets them know a patrol is dead…" Everyone acknowledged, readying their weapons.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bloody hell this is late… My apologies.  
Anyway, here's the full version of Chapter 5**

 **Y**

Chapter 5:

"What do we do when we find this guy?" Charlie asked as they trekked through the forest. "I doubt he'll be too friendly." Lee shrugged, unsure himself when Dwight answered. "We drop him. Plain and simple, we can't take any chances." The Communications Officer nodded, somewhat understanding.

Tommy looked around at the other three. "We split up from here." He looked to Dwight. "Dice, you're with me. Charlie and Lee; you're together. If we come up empty handed, we meet up on the other side of the mountain peak and signal for evac." Lee raised an eyebrow. "If we can't find this last man, I'm calling off the mission. We can't take any risks." The Lieutenant said. "So lets' go."

….

Charlie and Lee slowly advanced between the tree, moving forward about a hundred and fifty yards before stopping. Lowering to one knee, Lee swept his rifle over the area ahead of them, peering through the scope. The forest was completely still, no movement whatsoever.  
"You see anything?" Charlie asked.  
"Not a damn thing." He replied.

Lowering his rifle, Lee glanced at the compass he had attached to the side of the MK.12's handguard. "We should check closer to the ridge. Make sure he didn't slip past us earlier." Standing, the Sniper cautiously advanced down the hillside back towards the ridge where he and Dwight had set up earlier, the team's Comms Expert in tow. The two stopped every so often to methodically sweep the radius around them.

"Sophie's gonna kill me for being on another 'Op this close to coming home." Lee said, grimacing as he finished another sweep of the area ahead of the two. "We're making plans to have a kid." Charlie raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? Lee I didn't see you as the type to be a father." She replied, somewhat shocked. "I bet you didn't see me as husband type either a few years ago." He replied, smiling. "And then I went off and married the woman of my dreams. Christ, three years can go by really damn fast."

"So do you have any ideas for names, yet?" Charlie asked. Lee shrugged as he started to walk. "I was thinking maybe Eric if its' a boy we end up having. Not sure for if its' a girl." There was a brief quiet as Charlie looked around. "What about Emma?" She suggested. Lee seemed interested. "Maybe. I'll see what Sophie thinks of it."

….

"It's just one guy! Where the hell is he?" Dwight spat, lowering his sniper rifle as he and Tommy trekked through the hilly forest. "If he was just stopping for a piss, he wouldn't be too far away from the others, would he?" Tommy smirked, "Maybe they decided to leave him behind somewhere as some kind of sick joke." Dwight laughed. "Now that you mention it, I could see that happening. Well it must be his lucky day cos it saved him from getting shot."

Tommy lowered to a kneeling position, pointing to a clearing to their left. "Structure up ahead, in the clearing. Get eyes on it." He said. Looking through his scope, Dwight had a better view of the building. It was a tiny shack slapped together in the centre of the clearing, Parked next to it was a Russian military jeep. However, there was no one in sight.  
"Any contacts?" Tommy asked. "Nah." The sniper replied, "But we've got an abandoned vehicle. Wanna check it out?"

Cautiously getting to his feet, Tommy crept forward towards the clearing with Dwight covering his back. Sweeping his rifle left and right, he saw no enemy movement and continued towards the shack. After what seemed like ages, he reached the centre of the clearing and crouched behind the parked jeep. Looking in the rear window it was empty, save for a couple of duffel bags and a Kalashnikov. Whoever had left the vehicle was eventually going to come and collect it.

Leaving the jeep, he approached the door to the shack, M4 at the ready. If there was anyone inside, he would have to drop them quickly before they alerted any other enemies nearby. Slowly turning the handle, he unlocked the door before kicking it open as he burst into the building. He quickly entered the room, quickly scanning the interior. Empty.

Sighing with relief, he explored the tiny one room shack, finding a table nearby with several maps and notes written in Russian. On the table was also a radio. However, the radio crackled as it suddenly came to life.  
" **Pavlov, are you there? This is Alexei."** A Russian voice spoke. " **Are you finished with your patrol yet? You guys are taking your damn time!** " It made sense now to Tommy. The shack was just an abandoned guard post for patrols to take a rest stop at, with the jeep belonging to the squad they had taken out earlier. That was good news as that meant that their patrolman hadn't taken the jeep back to the compound yet, and the officer on the radio didn't seem alarmed. They were still in the clear.

Getting ready to leave, Tommy looked at his watch. Shit! He thought. This is taking way too long! Going to his headset, he contacted Dwight.  
"Dice, you there?" He asked. "Meet me at the treeline, we're heading back over the peak. I'll contact Charlie and Lee on the way. I'm calling off the mission."

….

Corporal Prokopiy Nevski staggered through the woods alone with his rifle slung, the AK dangling next to his stomach. He was getting frustrated now. Looking around, he noticed one of the fallen trees, which had split in two over a rock. He had seen it before. He was going in circles.

Grabbing his radio, Nevski spoke into the comms. " **Pavlov? Vitaly, where the hell are you guys?** " he asked. There was no reply. Nevski had remained at the rest stop after injuring himself falling over a rock, except hours passed and his squad had not returned to get him. Now he was limping around in the forest completely lost.

Branches rustled nearby and he instantly raised his rifle to the source, his finger dancing on the trigger. Carefully moving towards the nearby bushes, fear crept up the soldier's spine as the rustling grew louder. Grabbing a fistful of leaves, he tore the bush to the side and a grey shape fluttered violently, causing Nevski to panic and stumble backwards.

Heart pounding, he looked and saw that it was a bird, which had quickly taken off and found better shelter on a nearby tree branch. Laughing at himself, Nevski got to his feet again, dusting himself down.

….

At least an hour had passed and the Russian soldier was growing tired. Walking down the mountainside, he was heading in the direction in which he thought the Safehouse was. Approaching a nearby ridgeline, he climbed up onto the rock and looked down at the valley bellow, the tiny spec of the Safehouse at the far end. Grinning with relief, Nevski knew he could easily get their on foot, though it would take a long time.

Deciding to take a shortcut, he began to climb down the ridgeline when he saw something below on the ground. It was Pavlov, strewn dead on the ground with his face in the dirt. Around him were the others, also dead.

" **Oh shit!** " Nevski shouted aloud. Climbing back up the ridge, he began to run back up the mountainside towards the shack. If he got the jeep, he would reach the Safehouse faster. He needed to warn Makarov that enemies had breached their perimeter.

 **Sorry for the stupendously long wait, stay tuned. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Back again with another chapter. Momentum is starting to build from here onwards, so grab some popcorn, sit back and ENJOY**

Chapter 6:

"Solid copy. See you at the rendezvous." Charlie spoke into the comms, grumbling. She looked to Lee. "No sight of our bad guy. Tommy's aborting the mission. We're going to meet him on the other side of the peak and hike it back to the insert point for evac." Lee looked at her in confusion. "So that's it?" He asked. "We just pack up and go home?" The comms officer shrugged, "I guess so."

...

Junior Lieutenant Alexei Ptelvoisky stared out of the window of the Safehouse on the ground floor, squinting through his sunglasses as the sun shone directly on the east side of the house. _Where the hell is Pavlov and his team_? He pondered. They were supposed to be back over an hour and a half ago. Yawning, he headed down the hall to the kitchen, where he planned on finding something for breakfast. Surely the officers wouldn't mind him sneaking a sandwich and some coffee. Besides, the coffee supplied in the barracks tasted like liquefied shit.

Turning on the kettle, Ptelvoisky heard banging on the front door followed by voices of concern. He heard the door open and someone stumble in, stammering in fear. It sounded like Nevski, one of Pavlov's men.  
Switching off the kettle, he left the kitchen and headed to the hall where the commotion was coming from. Major Konstantinov was stood with a few soldiers around the panic stricken Nevski.  
"What the hell happened?" the Major barked at the man. "What happened!?"

"They're dead, they're all dead!" Nevski whimpered in response. "They'd been shot!" Konstantinov nodded, backing away as he made eye contact with Ptelvoisky. "Put the base on full alert. I want Makarov and the generals out of here and troops up on that ridgeline!" He ordered.

Saluting, Ptelvoisky stormed out of the hall to the basement door. Unlocking it, he headed down the steps into the underground armory. Pulling down the handle on the alarm, he set it off as a siren wailed around the building. Opening the lockers, he passed rifles to the soldiers who entered the armory before grabbing one himself. He watched a couple of men load up RPDs and PKPs as Konstantinov and Nevski grabbed guns of their own. They were going out to find whoever had killed their men.

….

"Lightning Base this is Lightning Zero-One." Tommy spoke into the receiver. "We are aborting the mission. Heading to primary extraction point, over."  
Lee watched the squad leader talk to command. That sealed the deal; they were leaving. That was a good sign, as they would be back at base by the early afternoon.  
"Loud and clear, sir. Lightning Zero One over and out." Tommy passed the receiver back to his sibling as she packed up the radio.

Dwight stood up. "So, where to now?" He asked. "We head back down the mountain to the plateau we arrived at last night. We then hold out there until evac gets there. Let's move it."

….

Time seemed to drag as the four SEALs slowly made their way down the mountainside. The plateau was way down at the base of the mountain and it would be a good while before they got there, passing between hundreds of trees which spanned for miles around them.

"Hey do you guys hear that?" Dwight asked. Charlie shook her head, "Hear what?" She asked. Dwight gawked at the comms officer. "You can't hear that? What about you guys?" Tommy and Lee bot shook their heads. "Guys, I'm telling you! It…it sounds like… _oh shit!_ "

By then, the others could hear it, the distant rumbling of a dozen vehicle engines. Their cover had been blown and now a massive Russian search party was making its' way down the mountain. They were a few miles away, but it wouldn't be long until they were close.

"Alright, dig in, people!" Tommy ordered, "Don't want them to catch us with our backs turned." He looked to the two snipers, pointing to a nearby rock formation "Lee, Dwight, I want you two behind that cover ready to give sniper fire." The two SEALs complied, jogging over and setting up their rifles. Tommy unhooked a few Claymores from his belt, passing them to Charlie. "Set 'em up on a perimeter around us. Two lines."  
"Got it." His sister replied, taking the explosives and rushing off to plant them.

Hunkering down next to Lee, Tommy checked his carbine. Tugging on the charging handle gently, he flipped down the M4's dust cover, ready for the rifle to fire. Grabbing a handful of rocks, he set them up in a little pile in front of him, planting his gun into them to steady his aim before stretching himself out to a prone position. Lying flat on the rock, he scanned the forest for any enemies, waiting to give the order to open fire as he watched Charlie set herself down nearby.

Ten minutes passed. Still no sign of the enemy. Tommy checked his watch before looking around. He leaned over to his squadmate. "I'm going to do about five minutes of recon." He whispered to Lee. "You want some company?" The sniper asked. Tommy shook his head. Slowly getting up, he clambered over the rock and advanced cautiously up the hillside, keeping his head low.

He came up behind Charlie, patting her on the shoulder. "I'm gonna do some recon. I'll be back in five minutes. Stay here." He whispered again, creeping off into the woods, quickly disappearing into the foliage.

His watch silently ticked away as the Lieutenant swept his rifle around as he moved through the forest. The sound of the engines had died out a few minutes ago, meaning the enemy must have gotten out to go on foot instead.  
Eventually, he reached the edge of the treeline, staring up at the jagged ridgeline above when he froze. There were several dark shapes stood at the top of the ridge, looking down the mountainside. Aiming through his scope, Tommy got a better view of them. Twenty-plus armed men were hesitantly making their way down the ridgeline towards him, unaware of his presence. They were coming.

….

Three minutes, fifty nine seconds, Lee was getting concerned as Tommy was not back yet. Scanning the area, he patiently waited for the squad leaders' return. Four minutes, ten seconds. Still nothing but the distant chirping of birds and the rustle of the wind in the trees.

At four minutes and fifty five seconds, Tommy emerged from a nearby bush, quickly scrambling back up onto the rock. "What's the sitrep?" Lee asked.  
"You are about to get contacted!" The Lieutenant whispered back, getting into position.  
Lee's eyes widened. "How fuckin' fast are these guys?" he asked angrily.  
"Very fuckin' fast." Tommy replied, going to local comms. "Dwight, Charlie, Twenty-plus foot-mobiles on their way. From now on I want radio silence. Engage on Lee's shot."  
 _Great, so I'm the icebreaker_. Lee thought, adjusting himself slightly. The rock wasn't comfortable to lie on, but it gave his sniper rifle good stability to fire from.

Aiming down the sight, he could see movement in the trees a few hundred yards ahead. "Lee, you got eyes on?" Tommy asked. "Affirmative." He replied, fixing his crosshairs over one of the approaching Russians. He was waiting for them to get into range so that the others also had clear shots at their targets.

He focused in the target of his own. He looked more like a militiaman or mercenary in mismatched kit, but the pale blue beret indicated that the man was from the Russian Airborne. He looked a rough type, with shaved head, screwed up face and massive build, he could probably knock a man out in a single punch. But that wasn't going to happen. Not today.  
Keeping his sights locked on the Russian's face, Lee thumbed off the MK.12's safety and rested his finger on the trigger. "Tommy." He whispered. "I'm about to light the fireworks…" Inhaling, he readied himself to fire.  
Lee pulled the trigger.

 **Kaboom. And so the ball starts rolling...  
Hope you liked it. More to come :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delays on this one. The action starts at last in this chapter, so sit back, relax and ENJOY**

Chapter 7:  
The rifle kicked back into Lee's shoulder as the round went off, its' _crack_ partially muffled by the suppressor. The Russians' head snapped back as the round hit him in the face, knocking the beret off of his head. Stumbling back, he lost balance as Lee put another round in him, this time dead in the chest. The second round knocked the man off of his feet and he collapsed. Silence.

The brief moment of quiet was abruptly shattered by yelling and gunshots. "Open fire!" Tommy roared as the four SEALs began firing at the enemy. The element of surprise was now gone and a firefight had erupted. There was no going back from here.

Lee found another target and squeezed off a few rounds, catching him in the midsection throwing the man off of his feet. Tommy's M4 went off next to him as the Lieutenant started firing at targets of his own. Lee took aim at a third Russian, who was taking cover behind a tree with only his head and gun barrel exposed. Putting a round into his head, Lee watched him go down as more gunfire rattled up and down the line. Out of nowhere was a deafening explosion as a dust cloud erupted a few hundred yards away, sending a handful of enemies tumbling to the ground as one of them had set off one of the claymores.

"They're moving up!" Dwight shouted as he fired at another group of hostiles. "Right! Push right!" Tommy roared back, "Charlie, move!" Sliding off of the rock, Lee took aim and caught a man in the waist, knocking him down. Lowering the rifle, he ran to the right as the others did the same. They had to keep moving so that the squad were not overrun.

Lee passed Charlie, who was flipping up the sights on her launcher. Switching off the safety, Charlie aimed the M203 forward, pulling the trigger in front of the M4's magazine. There was a loud Thump as the grenade was blasted out of the barrel, arcing up into the air. It landed somewhere out of view, but by the sound of the explosion and yells of shock and pain, Charlie knew the round hat at least hit something. Reloading the launcher, she continued to fire grenades at the enemy to give the others cover to move. Gunfire and explosions rang out everywhere from Charlie's grenades to the claymores, the Russians were hesitant to advance.

Skidding to a halt, Lee took cover behind another rock and fired at an enemy he spotted running towards him. The round struck him in the knee and he went down. Kill shots didn't matter, as long as people stopped shooting at the SEALs, any hit counted. Lee's rifle clicked and he dropped out the empty magazine, replacing it with a fresh one. He dropped a couple more hostiles before quiet fell over the forest.

Looking around, he saw Tommy and the others on the other side of the rock. "You good?" He called out. "Ay-Okay." Charlie replied, trying to see if the Russians were moving again. Their guns had stopped for almost a minute when the SEALs decided to retreat. Dwight looked through his sniper scope, peering through the trees as he looked for a clear spot for them to run to. He couldn't see any movement to the left. "Tommy, left is good." He noted. "Left is good!"  
"On it!" Tommy replied, getting to his feet. Dwight was about to get up as well when he saw a dark shape to the left light up with gunfire. Bullets peppered the rock as Tommy dived into cover again. "Left is _not_ good!" He shouted. Dwight nodded, trying to spot the shooter. A pair of Russians had propped up a PKP and were blindly firing it in their direction. Around them, a handful of other foot soldiers emerged, opening fire as well. "Left is _not_ good!"

Returning fire at the gunners, Lee struggled to keep his rifle steady, sending bullets into the trees and bushes around the two Russians. Slamming the rifle's bipod down onto the rock again, he steadied his aim as the machinegun crew began to reload. He caught one of them in the head and he fell back over, leaving his comrade to operate the gun alone. Lee put the other Russian down moments later as Charlie caught another soldier in the chest and he fell, a second bullet spattering their brains against the nearby tree.

Dwight picked another target and began to fire when bullets pinged off of the rock around him, one of the stray rounds cut through the air and grazed his left shoulder. " _Argh!_ " He roared through clenched teeth. " _Mother fucker!_ " Diving behind cover, he quickly examined the wound. The bullet had only just scraped the surface and had not went into his arm, so no serious damage was done. Raising his rifle above the rock, he blindly fired it into the forest "Fuck you!" He shouted defiantly at the oncoming enemy.

"We're going to be overrun! We have to move!" Tommy boomed. Lee nodded, getting to his feet. "Follow me!" the sniper ordered as he began to run down the slope, keeping his head low as he ran. Charlie's heart pounded as she ran alongside her brother. "I want you to call for immediate evac right away!" The Lieutenant said. "You'll need to keep me covered!" Charlie panted back.

Reaching more defendable cover behind a large fallen tree, Lee collapsed, shouting indecipherably as he dragged himself behind the log. " _Goddam!_ " He shouted, pressing a hand down on a bleeding wound in his upper leg where a bullet had hit him.

"Lee, Dwight!" Tommy called out." I need you to lay down suppressing fire for Charlie to call for support. As the two snipers set to work, Tommy helped his sister unpack the radio equipmen, hanging the small antennae in another tree. "Lightning Base, this is Lightning Zero One!" Charlie shouted into the mic. "Troops in contact! I say again, troops in contact! We need immediate fire support now!" On the other end was the panicked voice of an startled operator. "Right away, Ma'am! He replied. "We're prepping a QRF Team to head to your location, over." Charlie sighed. _Thank God_. "Solid copy, get them here qui-" The message cut out as several bullets peppered the radio pack, sending sparks fly. Another bullet caught the Comms Officer in the shoulder and she was thrown to the floor.

….

Within seconds, the operations centre in the base was outright chaotic with activity. One of the junior lieutenants made his way down one of the corridors, bursting into one of the many offices on the executive wing. "General Garret, sir. We have troops in contact on the mountain, calling for immediate QRF." In an instant, the General was on his feet.

….

Lee gripped his MK.12 tighter as he picked off another infantryman making his way through the foliage. _How many of these guys are there?_ He wondered. _This Op has surely gone to shit!_ Swivelling around, he aimed for another target, setting his crosshairs over another Russian. The soldier was raising an AK when bullet knocked him flat. _Nice shot, Dwight!_ Lee thought as he heard his ally take the shot. Looking across to the man, he was about to say something when Dwight's head snapped back violently and he slumped over backwards.  
"Man down!" Lee cried out in panic. " _Man down!_ "


	8. Chapter 8

**And here's chapter 8. With the story's more serious tone, I wanted the action to feel a lot more visceral and chaotic, though I'm going to try and keep it from going overboard. Anyways, ENJOY**

Chapter 8:

Ptelvoisky trudged through the woods towards the gunfire alongside the other members of his squad. "Our other teams have called it in." The Major said. "Four US Navy SEALs. We have them pinned down some way down the mountain." Ptelvoisky nodded in acknowledgment, looking across to Nevski. He could tell the man was riddled with guilt. The way the younger soldier hung his head low, avoiding eye contact with anyone was one of many signs. It was obvious he felt responsible for the Americans getting so far undetected, and how many people they had killed.

"Hey." He said to him. "It's all right, we're going to get our own back on them." He said confidently. "There's only four of them; there's no way in hell that they can hold off against all of us." Nevski shrugged timidly. He had regained some of his colour from when he first burst into the Safehouse.

….

"So we have four SEALs in contact behind enemy lines?" General Garret asked, folding his arms. Turning to the man beside him, the officer spoke quietly. "Captain, I want you to lead the Quick Reaction Force. Prep your team and get off the ground ASAP." He ordered. Captain Morton responded with the traditional _Yessir_ and walked out of the operations centre as Garret turned back to the others in the room. "Inform them that the QRF is getting ready to leave and will be there within the hour." The junior lieutenant shook his head. "I'm afraid we can't, sir. We've already tried contacting them and have had no response. Their radio may be damaged." Garret mumbled something in response, slumping down into a nearby chair, resting his head on a fist.  
 _Son of a bitch._

...

Teams Alpha and Bravo were part of the 160th Special Operation Airborne Regiment, putting them under the nickname of Nightstalkers. They were already mostly geared up in preparation for an escort mission for new arrivals to the base arriving later in the afternoon. Private First-Class Cody Yates sat hunched over, quietly spinning a combat knife around between his fingers. He had learned the trick with a pencil in highschool and it had stuck with him ever since.  
"Give it a rest, man…" Another member of the team spoke up after a while. "You're just showing off."

"Shut up, Joe." He replied and the man, Private 'Joe' McCawell, went quiet. "If it's annoying you, quit watching me and do something else." Going back to the knife, he twirled the blade a few more times when Captain Morton entered the armory. Instantly, Cody stopped and sheathed the blade, launching to his feet.

"Gentlemen, we've been re-tasked for a rescue op." The Captain explained. "Four SEALs are pinned down by Russian ground forces on the southern side of one of the eastern mountains. Our job is to lay down covering fire as we get them out of there." He looked around at the handful of men. "I want two teams, one in each chopper. We're off the ground in ten."

….

Cody jogged across the tarmac with his M4 slung as he, Captain Morton, Joe and another squadmate, Corporal 'Frag' Floyd, made their way towards one of the two helicopters. "I am ready to get it _ON_ , man!" Frag whooped. "Bout time we get a combat op!" He was one of the more lively members of the team, being known for his eagerness to see action and overly-cocky attitude. Aside from the Captain, he had the longest service record out of the whole team with a few tours of duty in Afghanistan under his belt. As the teams' support gunner, he was beyond the definition of lethal. Joe and Frag butted heads as they approached the Black Hawk.

One of the vehicles pilots, Johnson, slid the side door open, welcoming the Nightstalkers aboard as the rotors slowly began to spin up. As the four men took their seats, Johnson shuffled back to the cockpit, sliding into his seat as his co-pilot worked the controls.

Meanwhile, Captain Morton watched the other helicopter with the other members of the team take off. "Alright, this is the plan." He spoke into the local comms. "Team One is to insert onto the mountain to extract the SEALs. Team Two lays down cover fire to keep the Russians off of our backs." He switched off the comms and looked to the pilots. "Johnson, Rumsfeld! Take her up!"

Its' rotors whirring faster, the Black Hawk lifted off of the ground, turning as it began to follow the path of its counterpart. It would be some time before they reached the mountains.

….

"Shit! I can't see outta my fuckin' eye, man!" Dwight cried out, rolling about behind cover as Lee rushed to his aid. "Medkit, NOW!" Lee barked to Tommy, who tossed him a small pouch as he reloaded his M4. Holding the stricken sniper down, Lee examined the injury. The bullet had hit just above his eye and cut through to his temple as it went through, leaving behind an ragged wound from which blood poured. Lee grimaced at the sight. Even with surgery, Dwight would be permanently blind in the left eye after this, and the scarring would be immeasurable. Wrapping a bandage around Dwight's head, Lee compressed the wound as much as he could to reduce the blood loss before giving him a shot of painkiller.

After a moment, Dwight was regaining some of his senses. "Where's my rifle?" He asked. Lee handed him the MK.12 and the SEAL went straight back to shooting. "Jesus, you're one tough motherfucker, Dwight. You know that?" Tommy asked, astonished "You took one to the goddam face!"

Charlie sat up, holding her hand against the wound in her shoulder as she looked at the radio pack. Several round had torn through it and it was now useless. She silently hoped that the QRF Team would arrive soon. They had to, otherwise all four of them would be overrun and die. Grabbing her carbine, she reloaded the launcher. Charlie had three grenades left for the M203 and a few mags for the M4. Firing one of the grenades at the approaching Russians, she took out a small cluster of them with the shot.

Lee reloaded his rifle as an enemy charged right at him. Fumbling with the magazine, he slammed it home just as the Russian leapt up onto the log. Putting a few rounds into his stomach, Lee rolled aside as the body slumped next to him. More Russian shouting as a second figure launched himself at the sniper. Butting him with his rifle, Lee dodged the bayonet attack and grabbed the man by the back of his collar, slamming his face into the log over and over before throwing him to the floor. Kicking his rifle back up into his hands, Lee quickly finished him off.

The situation was growing desperate as Tommy looked for a way out. While most of the Russians were coming from the centre, they had both right and left locked-down, leaving only behind as a way of escape. Except behind them was not more cover but a steep drop off of a jagged ledge. "What are we doing, Tommy?" Charlie asked him as she used up the last of her M203 Grenades. "We're gonna fall back." The Lieutenant replied. Charlie's face screwed up as she eyed the ledge. "You mean fall off!" She retorted. "Do you have any better suggestions!? Cos now's the time I'd like to hear them!" her brother roared back.  
Charlie pumped herself up, "Dwight, Lee! Get over here!" She said as an uneasy feeling crept up her spine.

Dwight was still firing his rifle at the Russians, quickly kneecapping an older looking man among them. "Come and get me you mother fuckers!" He called out. "Dwight, come on! We have to go!" Lee yelled at him, dragging the sniper to his feet. The two left the cover of the log as they approached the ledge. It was at least a fifteen foot drop straight down. It would be almost impossible to climb down, made worse by the closing enemy meaning the team only had one option: jump.

"They're closing in!" Dwight shouted as he looked behind them. "Come on, we can do this!" Tommy said. "On three!"  
" _One._ " Lee swallowed hard as he readied himself.  
" _Two._ " Legs shaking, he bent his knees.  
" _Three!_ " Lee jumped.

For a split second, time itself seemed to stop as the snipers' feet left the ground. The world fell silent and for a moment, he felt completely weightless. Then gravity came hurtling back. Falling, Lee loosened his legs and anticipated the impact as the ground came closer and closer. He hit the ground hard and faceplaneted into the dirt. Still rocketing down the slope, he tumbled end over end as the world spun violently. He heard a crunch as Charlie disappeared behind him, slamming into a tree trunk. He saw glimpses of Dwight skid face first through some bushes before he himself collided with a large rock, stopping his fall at last.

Everything hurt. On aching hands, Lee lifted his face off of the ground, the world still spinning. Throwing his head down, he vomited. Emptying his stomach onto the ground, he looked about for the others. Dwight and Charlie weren't too far behind him, slowly getting to their feet, the latter clutching her side from where she hit the tree as she staggered towards the SEAL. Tommy had ended up further down the slope, coming to a stop entangled in some branches of a fallen tree.

"Everyone alright?" He heard the Lieutenant call out, coughing. _Fan-fucking-tastic!_ Lee thought, forcing himself upright. There were voices at the top of the ledge. Russian voices. The SEALs had to get moving again. Fast.


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's chapter 9. I hope you enjoy. I wanted to have a small breather in the story to space out the action. ENOY**

Chapter 9:

"Okay, what now?" Dwight asked, wiping blood off of the side of his face. "The Quick Reaction Force should be here soon." Tommy said as he picked up his rifle from the floor. "So we keep retreating down the mountainside to an area where they can land, hooah?"  
"Hooah!" Dwight replied, brushing dirt off of himself.

Lee double-timed it through the forest as he took point. He was slowly growing accustomed to the sharp pain running up his injured leg with each step. It was only a minor injury and could wait. He was more concerned about Dwight, who would undoubtedly be much less dependable thanks to his eye. "It'll take them some time to get down that ledge, won't it?" He asked. Charlie nodded, "Yeah. It's unlikely that they'll do what we did, -jumping off like that."

The pain suddenly grew again and Lee slowed down until he was beside Charlie. Tommy saw him and took the lead, allowing the two to push back to cover their rear as Dwight took centre of the group. The Lieutenant was starting to think of the backlash of the mission. An assassination attempt against Vladimir Makarov would certainly have its' consequences, which worried Tommy. He wondered what the Ultranationalists would do once they won the civil war. _Would they attack the US?_ He thought, _if they did, the fallout could end all life on earth_.

Up ahead was another large rock formation, it wrapped around giving cover from three directions, only open from behind. Beyond was another ledge, though this one looked much easier to climb down. "Take cover behind the rocks up ahead." Tommy ordered. "We'll hold here as long as we can, and then retreat down the ledge."

Climbing up onto the rock, Tommy looked down the slope beyond the ledge. More trees and bushes, though there was a narrow ridge carved into the ground, several metres deep, which ran on down the mountainside, twisting and turning along the way, giving the SEALs more ideal cover. In the distance was a large clearing, where they had originally been dropped off the night before. The clearing had proven itself large enough to fit at least one helicopter, meaning they could signal down the reaction force to land there.

"Finally some good news?" Dwight asked, propping himself up against a rock. "Yeah." The Lieutenant answered, setting down his rifle. "Once we reach that clearing, we can set down a smoke flare for the QRF Team to home in on." He took the magazine out of his M4 and examined it, frowning. Checking his tactical vest, he counted his remaining magazines and equipment. "I want a full ammo count." He said, "Make sure we've all got enough."

Charlie complied, going through her remaining ammunition. "I've got three and half a magazines. No more grenades." Dwight checked his kit. "Two mags left. No claymores but a full clip in my pistol and a few smoke grenades." Lee checked his, "Two and a half mags, two fulls for a pistol and a couple of smoke grenades." The sniper reported, "We can use them to cover our retreat down the ledge." He suggested.

Reaching into his pack, Tommy took out a 28 round STANAG, passing it to Dwight, "Here, I've got more than you anyway." He said as the sniper took it and pocketed the magazine. "Thanks. So now we wait to ambush the Russians?"  
"Exactly."

….

Major Konstantinov knelt down, looking through his binoculars at the top of the ledge. Several soldiers were already rappelling down the side of the ledge after a lengthy amount of tie setting up. Among them was Nevski, whom Ptelvoisky had convinced to join Sergeant Romanov in the squad taking point. Once they had reached the bottom, Romanov's men would push down the slope searching for the SEALs as the rest of the unit followed in close pursuit.

With no sight of the enemy, the major got to his feet and pocketed the binoculars. "We need to find them as quick as we can." He said to Ptelvoisky, who had slung his AK and was now hooking up to the rope to rappel down the ledge face. "We still have no idea why they were here and if they get away with any kind of information…" Ptelvoisky nodded, adjusting his goggles, "I know, sir. We'll find 'em alright." The Lieutenant said before sliding down the rock face out of sight.

….

General Garret stood in the operations centre watching camera footage from within one of the Black Hawks. "How long till you get there, Captain?" he asked into the comms. "ETA Fifteen minutes, sir." Morton replied, "We'll contact again once we arrive."

"Affirmative, Garret out." It was a risky op, sending choppers into enemy territory in broad daylight, but there was no other way of getting the SEALs out in one piece. _Things can only get better_. He told himself. _The shit has already hit the fan_. _Morton and his team will extract the SEALs and get back here as quick as they can. Then we can deal with the aftermath._

Garret sighed, getting up out of his chair. He would have to inform higher ups of the mission sooner or later. Picking up the nearby phone, he dialled the number off by heart and began to speak. Now the Pentagon was involved.

….

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lee asked Dwight as the two set up their sniper rifles. "Dude, chill. I can still fight." He replied, half smiling. "It's not like I've been shot in the face and lost use of my left eye." Lee chuckled at the joke. _Gotta love Dwight's sense of humour_. The four SEALs had set up around the rock formation waiting to ambush the approaching Russians a second time. They probably wouldn't have expected them to stop running and dig their heels in, which was good. Adjusting the scope on his MK.12, he flicked on the mini red dot sight atop of it. Switching off the safety, he looked through the scope to the forest ahead of him. There was no movement. At least for now.

….

Sergeant Romanov lowered to a crouch as he covered the advance of his support team; a three man team carrying a DSHK heavy machinegun. With the weapon being almost six feet long, the three soldiers each carried a separate part; one carried the receiver tucked under one arm, another carried the barrel assembly and muzzle brake and the third carried the tripod and ammunition. Watching the three men advance, Romanov kept his sights trained on the forest ahead when Nevski caught up with him. "Sir, I've been sent from the Major to join your squad." He explained. The sergeant grinned, "By all means." He replied. "I need a new grenadier after my last one took a round." He passed the soldier a bag filled with frag grenades.

Nevski took the pack and slung it, clipping one of the grenades onto his belt for good measure. "How many people have we lost, Sergeant?" He asked. "A _lot._ " Romanov answered as he got to his feet to move up. The DSHK team were taking cover to allow him and the others to move up.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

"Andreev, push up!" Romanov barked as he pushed forward. Nodding, the corporal levelled his G3 and began to advance. Looking behind himself to Nevski, Romanov was about to say something when he heard a gunshot ring out. Spinning around, he saw Andreev fall to his knees before another bullet tore his lower jaw off and he went down. "CONTACT!" the Sergeant roared, lunging back behind the tree. More fire rang out up and down as another firefight erupted.

He wasn't sure where the fire was coming from. Peering out, Romanov scanned the treeline when he caught glimpse of a large rock formation atop of it. For a brief moment, the glint of a sniper scope flared on the rock. Suddenly, bark splintered next to his head as a bullet missed its' target and struck the tree trunk. Romanov reeled back into cover. The Americans were there. They had lured them into another ambush. "You three!" He barked to the support team. "Get that gun setup right fucking now!"

Panic set in for Nevski again as he lay behind a fallen log watching his squadmates open fire. _Why am I even here? Why the fuck did I listen to Ptelvoisky?!_ Dropping his gun, the man threw his hands to his ears, attempting to block out the rattling of gunfire. Curling up into a ball behind the log, he heard bullets strike the other side and rip into the wood. His AK fell to the floor as Nevski tried to drown out everything. Romanov was at his side in an instant. "Get up! We need you!" He yelled, handing the man back his weapon. "They're in cover in a rock formation. We need you to flush them out!" He didn't get a response. Nevski continued to whimper as his shaking hands fumbled with the AK. _For fucks' sake!_ Romanov tore the grenade bag away from the shellshock-stricken soldier and began to advance. To his right, Romanov could hear the rapid thunderous claps of the DSHK opening fire. That gave him confidence. The large calibre rounds tore apart everything between them and the rock, slicing entire trees in two, sending dust and splinters in all directions. "Keep suppressing!" He shouted to them as he started to pick up speed towards the rick along with the remainder of his team. Luckily for him, the rest of the unit would also be moving up.

….

"Goddammit, Tommy! This wasn't a good idea!" Lee shouted as he rolled into cover. "They got us zeroed in!"  
"I know!" The Lieutenant replied, squeezing off three round bursts at the enemy. "They're using a damn Dishka! Someone take it out!"

Raising out of cover, Lee spotted the DSHK and its' operating crew. "Keep me covered!" He barked to the others, who proceeded to draw the gun's fire away from the sniper. Zooming in, Lee set his sights on the gunner himself. The man was biting his lip as he tensed under the weapon's immense recoil. Exhaling, Lee drilled a hole in the gunners' head and he went down. Immediately, one of the other operators took his place. Lee readied for another shot when the gunfire came his way. Rolling back behind the rock into safety, the rounds missed him by centimetres. Had a single round hit him, the SEAL would have easily been ripped in half.

"What's the sitrep on that Dishka, Lee?" Tommy asked, dropping a nearby attacker. "Still operational, no way I can get another shot!" The Lieutenant swore as he reeled into cover to talk to Lee. "Alright then, we're going to have to fall back. You and Dwight get your smoke grenades ready!"

….

Romanov could see them now. They were picking off his squad with ease, though he had somehow managed to slip by unnoticed. Two of them sat behind the rock talking as one reached for something in his pack. Now was his chance. Taking a grenade from the bag, he squeezed the primer and pulled the pin. Throwing it upwards, he watched the grenade fall down towards the two American soldiers. Going back into cover, he readied another grenade.

….

"Shit!" Tommy yelped, scuttling away from the grenade. "Get fucking rid of it!" He screamed. Grabbing the small metal ball, Lee hurled it over the rock where it exploded a few feet away, sending a cloud of dust raining over him and the Lieutenant.

Charlie ran over to them. "Are you two alright?" She asked, helping up her brother. "We're fine. Tell Dwight we need to pull back now!" Charlie acknowledged, making her way over to the sniper. However, before she said anything, Charlie saw movement on the left. A Russian had taken out a frag grenade and was fumbling with it.

….

Romanov ripped out the pin and raised his arm ready to throw when a bullet caught him dead in the chest, tearing its' way through his ribcage and vital organs. Choking from the hit, he fell back over onto the dirt as the world began to spin. The wound was serious as it had likely went through an artery, though that was the least of his concerns as he looked over to the grenade next to him…

….

Charlie watched as the grenade went off, instantly obliterating her target. However, the explosion set of a chain reaction as the other grenades in the Russian's bag went off. The blast knocked her back down into cover as the ground shook violently. _That should hold them off for now_. She thought, looking over to Dwight, who was brushing dirt off of himself. "We're pulling back! Tommy needs you to set off the smoke grenades!" Dwight set to work on pulling out his smoke grenades. Tossing them over the rock, each grenade let out a large plume of white mist which obscured everything. Lee began to do the same as Charlie began to climb down the ledge.

….

Enough was enough. Nevski got to his feet, shouldering his rifle. He followed the others towards the cloud of smoke as the remaining DSHK crew began to dismantle their weapon to move it. Sergeant Romanov was nowhere in sight but that didn't matter, the soldier still had one grenade. And he would be dammed if he didn't get the opportunity to show it to the Americans who killed his old squad.

….

Charlie had reached the bottom of the ledge and shouted up to her brother to make his way down. Before he did, he patted Lee on the shoulder. "Get ready to move on my go!" He said before heading to the ledge. Lee picked off another Russian soldier before looking across to Dwight. They had to keep Tommy covered as he climbed down to Charlie. "You good?" He asked. "Fine!" the other sniper shouted back as he fired into the smoke. It was almost impossible to see anything now as the smoke grenades had fully opened up. That was good as that meant the enemy couldn't see them either. Once Tommy reached the bottom, Lee would cover Dwight's retreat and then climb down himself.

"Alright, you're good!" Tommy shouted. Dwight looked to Lee. "You go first, I've got your back." He said. Lee shook his head. "No, you go now!" He replied. Dwight glared at the man, his face serious. "Negative. Get your ass outta here right fuckn' now!" He boomed. Biting his lip, Lee go up and ran towards the ledge. _Sonofabitch!_ He thought as he looked back to Dwight who was still firing at approaching silhouettes in the smoke. He was about to climb down when something came to a thud at Dwight's feet. It was a small, spherical object about the size of a baseball. Fear instantly took hold of the SEAL as he and Dwight caught each other's glances. Both of them were frozen with panic as their gazes met before the grenade went off. Dwight died in an instant as the blast wave hit Lee several feet away. The explosion threw him off of his feet, sending him tumbling down over the ledge to the ground below.

 **And** ** _BANG_** **, out of the blue. Dwight's gone. Sorry for the dick-ish cliffhanger. Stay tuned for the next chapter.** **J**


	11. Chapter 11

**Back again. Sorry for the MASSIVE delays on this chapter. For the first 2 weeks of my summer I've been really busy. Once again, the characters of Tommy and Charlie belong to WheresDaBeef**

Chapter 11:

The world was silent. Lee lay motionless on the floor staring up at the sky. It was sometime after midday as the sunlight had gained a slight yellow tinge through the treetops. He could hear the faint chirps of birds, though as the sniper peered at the branches, he saw no movement. A sudden calm had fallen across the man as he stared up at the sky. Slowly, the silhouette of a person appeared in his vision, casting a shadow over him as they looked down on him. _Sophie?_ He thought, reaching out, a half smile on his face as the woman's eyes met his own. She reached out a hand to take his own. _Is that you?_ The woman's head lowered closer, blocking out the glare of the sun and her features appeared in detail.

"Come on, Lee!" Charlie cried in desperation, trying to pull the man to his feet. " _We need you!_ " In an instant, Lee snapped back into the real world and shot up as Charlie stumbled aside. Looking around, he saw Tommy aiming his rifle up the rock face, firing at the Russians trying to peer down at them. He could hear Charlie asking him something. Turning back to face her, he saw her eyes wide with desperation and worry. "Lee!" She asked. "Where is Dwight?"  
Then he remembered all of it again.

He began to shake his head, blinking water out of his eyes as his throat began to burn. "Is he still up there?!" Charlie barked. "For fuck's sake, talk to me, Lee!" Lee kept shaking his head. "He's…." The sniper wheezed struggling to speak, "He's gone! Dwight's dead!" He pointed up the rock face, "…up there!"

Tommy switched his rifle into full auto, letting out a long burst of gunfire up the ledge. "Char! What's happening?!" He shouted across to his sister. "Dwight's gone!" she shouted back, "We have to leave now!" The Lieutenant froze for a moment, looking to the floor as he processed the bombshell. Swallowing hard, he nodded, "Alright! On me, let's go!" He started to run down the hillside towards the crevice that ran down to the clearing.

….

 _Scanning….  
Bravo Team Located….  
Tracking Cpl. Daniels, L._

"Bravo One, come in. This is Bravo-Six-One." A voice spoke through the comms. Corporal Lewis 'Schoolboy' Daniels was hunkered down in a bush with his suppressed MP5 at the ready when the message came through. He watched the squad leader emerge from the trees nearby to answer the call, replying to them quietly as the rest of the team got to their feet.

Schoolboy was the team's medic and technical officer, along with being the newest member to the team, hence his nickname due to the man's young age. The Sergeant next to him patted him on the soldier. "You good?" He asked in his trademark Scottish accent. Schoolboy nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay. One question, though Sergeant." He asked. "Why the fuck did command pick us for this mission? A bunch of regular 'squaddies would have been able to run a stealth op like this!" The Sergeant simply shrugged. "My best guess is they trust the Big Man." He said, gesturing to the Captain, who was still talking to command over the radio. "Cos if that's the case, it makes a lot of bloody sense." Schoolboy knew that the Sergeant had a lot of faith in the squad leader. So the legend goes, they were part of the team which had killed Imran Zakhaev during the outbreak of the Russian civil war. If that was true, that would explain why their unit was chosen for such a high risk operation.

The Captain lowered the radio away from his face and turned to the other members of the squad, "Apparently a unit American troops have gotten themselves into a firefight not far from here." He said, "That will put the Russians on alert and therefore compromises our mission down here, so our orders are to head back to our exfil point for extraction." One of the other squadmates, Lieutenant Riley, shook his head. "How far away are they, sir?" He asked.

"A couple of klicks north, up the side of that mountain, there." The officer replied, pointing up the slope of one of the towering mountains. Riley spoke up again, "If they're that close we may as well bunch up with them, sir. Reinforcements." The Captain shrugged, "I'll have to see what command says."

 _Signal Lost…._

….

"Were you able to get any of Dwight's equipment?" Tommy asked as he hopped down into a tight crevice. "No." Lee answered, Grenade blasted me off the fuckin' cliff!"

"Wait, we can't just leave him up there!" Charlie shouted, skidding to a halt as the other two members of her team looked back to her. "Even if he's dead we don't leave our fallen behind!" Tommy shook his head, "We can't risk it, Char!" He replied, "There's almost a hundred guys after us, we have to leave him!" Looking down at the dirt, Charlie gritted her teeth, _Fuck!_ She took off running again with the others into the ridgeline.

….

The gunfire had quietened down as Ptelvoisky and his squad arrived on the scene. What was left of Sergeant Romanov's squad sat around at the bases of trees and on rocks as they waited for reinforcements. Among them was Nevski, standing deathly still atop of a large rock.

"Nevski!" Ptelvoisky shouted to him, jogging over to greet the soldier. "Where's Romanov?" He asked. The young soldier silently shook his head. Romanov was dead. "What about the Americans?" Nevski muttered something quietly, though his friend couldn't hear it. "What?"  
Nevski pointed down the slope. "Three of them got away. But we… _I_ …killed one." He glanced down again to the bottom of the rock formation, where a mangled and burnt body lay.

Grimacing, Ptelvoisky, slowly climbed down towards the body, kneeling beside it. It was one of the American Navy SEALs, he had been killed by a grenade as indicated by his immense injuries. His uniform was shredded and seared revealing glimpses of muscle and bone in places. His face was ashen black from dirt, burns and blood, lacerated by dozens of tiny cuts and grazes. The blast must have been incredibly close as he looked as if he had died almost instantly. _So this was one of the guys who killed so many of my friends?_ Ptelvoisky couldn't muster the fury he thought he would feel against the dead man. He had imagined himself emptying a magazine into their faces, though the dead body him front of him had shaken him more than any other he had seen that day for some reason.

He checked over the man's kit. Standard equipment for a Yank. Pistol, grenades, knife and what looked like an M16 with a sniper scope. Taking the weapon, Ptelvoisky stood, calling out to Major Konstantinov who quickly came over to see the body. He passed the rifle to the Major who held it triumphantly. "See, comrades! We are more than capable of killing them!" He turned to Nevski, who was still dwelling over taking his first life. "Soldier!" Where did the others escape to?" He asked. Pointing to the canyon, Nevski told him they were still retreating down the mountainside and were close to the base.

"If we move now," the Major shouted, rallying his men, "We can cut them off before they can escape!" He tossed the MK.12 back to Ptelvoisky. "Get ready to move out, Lieutenant."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Lee skidded down a rock face, tucking his rifle under his arm. Expecting to land on his feet, he cursed when the rock slope suddenly ended and he tripped over down to the ground face first. The fall hurt like hell, but he had been through much worse earlier that day. Getting up again, Lee levelled his sniper rifle and took off running again, kicking clouds of gravel behind him as he ran.

Charlie was somewhere behind him and Tommy was somewhere up front. They just needed to keep moving, they were so close to the clearing, only about five minutes away on foot. Picking up speed, Lee sped between the jagged rocks and mounds of dirt, throwing himself through the smaller gaps in the ridge. The formation had been laid down by a stream running down the mountain, cutting the jagged line down the side of the slope over thousands of years, the stream itself now long gone, though in its' wake was ideal cover for the SEALs' escape. The stone near Lee's head sparked, kicking dust as a round struck it.

"Contact!" He shouted, dropping into cover. "Where's the fire from?" He called out. "I don't see anything!" Charlie replied. "Wait, there! _Left! Left!_ Near the fallen tree!" She was right as Lee spotted an AK-wielding man running through some trees about five hundred metres behind them up the slope. Scoping in, Lee watched him melt away into the trees as other targets appeared. "Engage!" He shouted, squeezing off a round. The shot went wide and disappeared into the forest as the intended target shouted to his allies as he levelled another Kalash.

The distinct rattle cracked from several places behind the team as they returned fire. Lee dropped a hostile who then stumbled down over a log. More enemies were appearing out of the forest now as the force caught up with the SEALs. Gripping his MK.12, Lee inhaled as he prepped himself to fire off another shot when a blurred object appeared from the side and obscured the view of the scope. Looking up, he stumbled as a Russian soldier leapt down into the canyon, landing on top of him. Casting his rifle aside, Lee grabbed the barrel of the man's G3which was pointed at his face. Fighting against him, Lee forced the barrel to the right as it went off and punched rounds into the dirt next to his head. His eardrum throbbed with pain as a sharp ringing filled his head.

Keeping the G3 away from his face, Lee reached for his knife, unsheathing the blade and ramming it into the man's chest just under the ribs. Squealing, the Russian soldier collapsed beside him as Lee rocketed back to his feet, snatching up his gun again. "We're going to be overrun!" He shouted to Tommy.

"I know!" He replied, thought eh Lieutenant was facing problems of his own as another enemy soldier hopped down to fight him close quarters. Striking him in the face with the butt of his rifle, he knocked him down and pointed the carbine at him. As he finished off the man, the handguard of Tommy's M4 flashed in sparks as a round struck the side of it. The weapon wasn't damaged as it didn't hit directly, though Tommy pulled his hand away from the gun clenching with shock as the round ricocheted off of the gun right where he was holding it. "ARGH! FUCK!" Collapsing to his knees, Tommy looked down at his left hand as he outstretched it to see the damage. Between his middle and pinkie fingers was a tattered stump where the jagged material of his glove ended in a bloody ragged nub. The bullet had struck his knuckle and tore his ring finger off. " _Motherfucker!_ " He spat as he frantically tore at his sleeve for material to dress the wound with.

Charlie ran to her brother's aid, dropping behind another rock before firing back at the approaching enemies. "Tommy! Are you alright!?" She shrieked across to him. Clenching his jaw, Tommy looked over to her. "Yeah _…I'll live!_ " Grabbing his M4 again, Tommy began firing again, holding the weapon by the magwell to reduce the stress on his injured hand.

Lee came bounding over to the two, firing to the side as he ran when suddenly, the air seemed to scream and a tiny object streaked past them and collided with a nearby rock. The rock erupted in a fireball, casting a shower of dust and chunks of stone over the three as Lee was thrown to the floor. Shaking his head to clear the shellshock, his head darted up to Charlie and Tommy. "Was that a goddamned RPG?" He spat.  
"Yeah!"  
"Fuck!"

Hurling himself into cover, Lee brushed off dirt from his uniform and checked his rifle wasn't damaged. "They're gonna overrun us, Tommy!" He said. The Lieutenant was going pale, "I know! You said!" Looking up out of the crevice as the gunfire suddenly stopped, he could see more Russians reloading their weapons as they cautiously advanced. "This is it!" He said, "Open fire on three!"  
"One…"  
"Two…"

Seemingly out of nowhere, the line of approaching Russians exploded as a gigantic plume of smoke rose into the air. " _What the hell!?_ " Lee roared in shock. The low, pulsating _fwoop_ of helicopter blades echoed above the SEALs heads as a pair of dark shapes could be seen above the treetops. The QRF had arrived.

Two UH-60 Black Hawks hovered above the forest, positioning themselves to open fire on the attacking Russians. One of the two helicopters was a gunship, which faced the mountainside head on and began to unload its' arsenal on the upward end of the slope, the other hovered sideways with a soldier on a minigun on the door, ripping down entire trees under a hail of gunfire.

"Lightning-Zero-One, come in!" A voice crackled on the local comms. "Lightning-Zero-One, come in. This is Nightstalker-Two-One. Anyone alive down there?" Tommy picked up his helmet, "Yeah, this is Lightning-Zero-One! Good to hear form ya! You couldn't have had better timing, I swear to god!" He laughed, relieved as he looked to Tommy and Charlie. "What's your situation?" The voice asked.

….

Captain Morton sat looking out of the Black Hawk door down to the three figures below him as their CO explained the sitrep to him. "Solid copy. Head to the clearing south of here where we can get to you. Hang in there." He said. Switching comms, he got in contact with the other helicopter, which was still firing at the mountainside. "Alright, Team Two: stay aboard the chopper and give em everything you got. We'll set down in that clearing over there to evac the SEALs."

As the helicopter veered left towards the clearing, Morton patted Frag on the shoulder. "Stay on the gun!" He ordered, "Give them Russian fucks some punishment." Frag nodded, firing short, violent bursts into the trees with the M134. Looking to Yates and Joe, Morton unslung his M4. "Alright, Yates I want you to drop the rope. Joe then rappels down, followed by me and finally you. We lay down suppressing fire for the SEALs to be picked up."

Frag cackled like a madman as he fired the minigun. Next to him, Cody let his M4 hang on its' sling as he went to grab the rappelling gear on the floor of the Black Hawk. Bullets clanged against the helicopters' side and he stumbled sideways, reaching for his gun when Morton grabbed his shoulder. "Ignore them, just get the rope down!"

….

Hurling himself up the rock face out of the crevice, Lee took off sprinting towards the clearing, his rifle jolting about on its' sling at his side. His chest ached as his heart pounded, muscles filling with lactic acid as he panted madly. Tommy was up ahead, waving to the approaching helicopter as it hovered over the clearing. The Lieutenant took out a smoke flare, popping its' cap before igniting it. The flare burned white as a thick orange smoke poured out of it, filling the area around it. Pelting the flare into the clearing, Tommy watched it land before turning back to Lee and Charlie. Looking to his right, Lee saw Charlie was in an equally bad state as he was. He opened his mouth to say something when there was a metallic pop behind them, followed by a loud whistle which quickly grew louder.

The RPG impacted a few feet behind them, launching the two SEALs into the air before they struck back down. Landing face first, Lee got a face full of gravel and rolled over onto his side. Spitting out a mixture of dirt, blood and phlegm, he blinked rapidly to get the dust out of his eyes. Charlie lay nearby, also injured by the blast. Forcing himself up, Lee staggered over to her, pulling the Comms Officer up. Slinging her arm around his neck, he began to drag Charlie along to the clearing. Her weapon sling snapped and the M4 dropped to the ground behind them. Charlie quickly snapped to her senses, reaching for the discarded rifle. "Leave it!" Lee coughed. "We can make it! Come on!" Moving her legs, Charlie began to limp along, easing the weight on Lee's shoulder. Tommy came to their aid, slinging his weapon as he rushed to help his sister. The three reached the treeline as the Black Hawk hovered overhead. "We're almost there!" He called, "We're almost home."  
Then the unthinkable happened.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Morton levelled his M4, looking through the scope as he picked a target amongst the trees. Dozens of Russians were making a mad dash after the retreating marines. Rounds pinged off of the Black Hawk's side as he ducked out of the way, shielding Yates as he tied the rappel rope down to the floor of the chopper. "Captain! We're good!" He called, tossing him the weighted end of the rope. Throwing it out of the helicopter, he watched it sail down to the ground as he took out his kit. Clicking his carabiner clip to the rope, he punched Yates on the shoulder. "Squad!" He boomed, "Hook up!" Edging towards the door, Morton was about to step off when he saw a bright flash in the forest below followed by a plume of grey smoke as a tiny metal object hurtled towards the helicopter.  
"Shit! _RPG!_ " He heard Joe cry out before a wave of heat swept over the soldier, slamming his eyes shut, Morton felt as he was being thrown side to side inside the chopper as a burning smell filled his nostrils. He heard the spinning blades strike the dirt before a tremendous weight came crushing down on him.

….

Tommy, Charlie and Lee looked on in horror as an RPG Round struck the cockpit of the Black Hawk. Flames bellowed out of its' windows as it recoiled from the impact, spinning out of control as it fell to earth.  
" _No!_ " Lee cried out, " _You mother fuckers!"_

The rotor blades chopped into the ground and snapped, sending metal fragments spinning into the air as the tail rotor collided with the earth, bending at a rough 45 degree angle before breaking free. The force of the tail coming away overturned the helo as it smacked into the ground sideways, its' fuselage crumpling under its' own weight as the fuel lines erupted in flames. Flipping end over end, the Black Hawk was viciously torn apart as various parts of it skidded to a halt. No-one could have survived the crash.

Slumping to his knees, Lee watched as the other Helicopter turned around to see its' comrade crash. Closing in, it looked as if it were going to land in the clearing when amidst the hail of bullets striking the craft, one hit an air intake and sparked. Leaning sideways as smoke bled out the side of the helicopter, it turned away as its' rotors spun faster. The three SEALs watched as the second Black Hawk quickly departed. Becoming a speck on the horizon in seconds.

"What the fuck do we do now?!" Lee asked as Tommy stared up into the afternoon sky. Before he could answer, bullets pinged off of the rock nearby. "Move!" The Lieutenant barked, grabbing his carbine again as he ushered Lee and Charlie forward. "Use the cover of the chopper! Don't stay out in the open!"  
Aiming behind them, Tommy saw the swarm of Russians pushing down from the ravine. Flicking the rifle to semi-auto, he squeezed off several rounds, managing to drop a few attackers before more return fire struck the dirt in front of him, sending the SEAL running.

Pulling her arm off from around Lee's neck, Charlie began to run on her own, barely able to support her own weight as the two sprinted for the helicopter. The smell of smoke and fuel clung to her nostrils long before the two reached the downed helo. Hopping over scattered debris, Charlie flung herself over the side of the Black Hawk and down behind it, pressing her back against the fuselage as Lee clambered over after her.

The Comms Officer suddenly jerked her head around to the sniper. "Where's Tommy?" She asked. "Somewhere behind us." Lee replied, peering around the nose of the helo as he saw a figure making a B-line towards the chopper. "Here he comes," Lee said reassuringly, "We need to cover his path. You got a weapon?" He asked her. The SEAL nodded, upholstering a sidearm. "Alright, let's go!" She said.  
"COVERING FIRE!"

Tommy saw his two squadmates emerge from cover and begin firing. Chest heaving as he gulped air, the Lieutenant made a mad dash for the chopper whilst enemy fire tore up the dirt at his heels. Taking gigantic leaps as he ran, Tommy could hear Charlie calling to him as he got nearer. Charlie had stopped firing, shouting in anger as her pistol no longer fired. She was out of ammo.  
Unslinging his M4, he grasped the weapons' buffer tube with his good hand. "CATCH!" He roared before flinging the rifle forward into the air. He smiled in relief when he saw Charlie spread her arms to catch the falling carbine. She was just about to catch it when something struck his back hard and he was thrown to the floor.

Gasping for breath, he blindly fumbled his hand around his back and found a tiny hole in his webgear. Panicking, the soldier began to hyperventilate as his upped back felt as though it had been hit by a sledgehammer. A hand snaked itself around the handle on his pack and dragged him forward into the cover of the helicopter. Sliding alon on his stomach, he reached his hands out and scullted the last few feet.  
"Shit! Tommy are you okay!?" Charlie shrieked as the man struggled for breath. "  
" _Yeah…_ " He gasped, pointing to his back.

Tearing open the wide pouch on the back of the webgear, Charlie pulled the armor plate out of its' carrier, seeing the tiny silver dent in the strike face. It had stopped the bullet. Charlie tossed the plate to one side as she helped her brother up.  
"You're one lucky so of a bitch you know!" She spat, smacking him across the head lightly. Tommy simply smiled back as he picked up his rifle again.  
"We need to get out of here ASAP!" He said, sitting up against the back of the Black Hawk.  
Lee looked around in confusion, "What are we gonna do? Run for it and cross the border over into China?!"  
The Lieutenant shrugged,  
"If we have to, then yeah."

….

"This is Team Two! We're hit and pulling out!" A panicked voice filled the comm room as General Garret went rigid. "We have a Black Hawk down. I repeat, we have a Black Hawk down!" one comms officer called out. Camera feed from the retreating chopper flickered up on the screen in front of them. The clip only played for a few seconds, showing the other UH-60 take an RPG to the cockpit before cutting out.

Garret felt sick. Six men were on that chopper, including Captain Morton. Without a word, he left the operations centre. Finding his office, the General collapsed into a chair and slumped his head into his hands. His stomach pulled into a tight knot as his worst fears came true. He had seen many men and women die under his command throughout his career, and now another group had joined them. One of the younger officers came into the room, knocking as he entered.  
"What is it?" Garret asked in a low mumbled tone.  
"Sir, the helo is en route back to base now. I'll have a debriefing ready for them." He explained. "Our assessment team is preparing another strategy."  
Garret nodded, "Understood, Lieutenant."  
"Don't worry, sir." The Lieutenant said before leaving, "We'll bring them home."

Garret heard the door click shut as he sat back in his chair, pulling his face up to stare at the ceiling. Standing, he inhaled deeply, drawing a long breath as he puffed out his chest. Exhaling, he closed his eyes, focussing himself.  
 _Alright, what do we do now?_ He asked himself. _If Plan A fails you have to have a Plan B at the ready_.

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, please leave a review** **J** **I'm going away for a week so I won't be posting for a while sadly. However, I am 100% determined to finish this story.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey I'm back again. FIVE MONTHS. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-TWO DAYS.  
Fuck me sideways I'm late on this one. There's no excuse for my infinite laziness. Anyway, I've FINISHED the story and it should be all posted now.**

 **ENJOY**

Chapter 14:

Lee peered over the top of the downed chopper. He could see several figures emerging from the treeline, rifles levelled as they approached the crash site. He could hear their backs and forths as the enemies drew nearer.  
" **Daeletsky, Ivanoff; Sweep right**." A Russian voice ordered. " **Everyone else take left. We'll jump these fuckers**."

Dropping back down, Lee turned to Charlie and Tommy. "They're coming. We need to move _now_." He said, picking up his MK.12. Pulling Tommy to his feet, the three made a dash for the treeline and disappeared into the foliage.

Passing through the bushes, Tommy took the M4 back off of his sister and racked the bolt as he ran. Lee disappeared somewhere behind the two and Tommy spun, " _Lee! Where the fuck are you going!_ " He spat in a hushed tone. "Keep going! I'll catch up." Lee replied, going prone in the dirt as he set up his bipod. Grimacing, Tommy turned again and continued running.

Taking aim through the scope, Lee noticed the lens had been damaged as an icy white crack ran between the black lines of the crosshairs. In his view was the downed helicopter where the squad of Russians had arrived, looking around for the missing SEALs. He saw them standing around the main body of the craft, weapons aimed in multiple directions. Moving the crosshairs upwards, Lee hovered the T-shape over a large bulbous part of the downed helicopter; one of the reserve fuel tanks.  
"Burn in Hell." He muttered quietly, squeezing the trigger.

There was a metallic ping as the round struck the fuel tank, followed by a deep, deafening boom as the chopper went up in flames a second time, the fireball engulfing the small squad. Pulling himself away from the scope, Lee looked on at the carnage as a handful of the remaining soldiers staggered about, bright orange flames covering them head to toe as they cried out in agony. Taking his rifle, Lee launched to his feet and started running to keep up with the others.

"Nice fireworks." Tommy grinned when he saw the sniper jogging up to him and his sister. "I was saving them for the 4th o' July." Lee joked, smiling.

….

There was another knock at the door.  
"Come in." General Garret said sitting up. The you8ng Lieutenant came into the room again, holding a telephone. "A call for you, General." He said as the older man stood to take the phone.

"This is Major-General Dennis Garret. To whom am I speaking?" He asked as he raised the phone to his ear.  
"Good evening, General." Replied the voice of a posh-sounding Englishman. "My name is Edwin Hope, British Foreign Secretary." He said, introducing himself. "I have gotten wind of your operation in Kyrgyzstan from MI-6 and we also happen to have an SAS Team conducting reconnaissance in the local area. If needed, they are on standby to assist your Navy SEALs."

Garrets' heart leaped. "Mr Hope that would be greatly appreciated." He replied. "How long would the team require to prepare and enter the mission area?"  
"Depending on exactly where your team is, General," Hope answered, "They can be linking up with them within the hour."

….

 _Scanning….  
Bravo Team Located….  
Tracking Cpl. Daniels, L._

Schoolboy checked the magazine of his MP5 again, making sure he had a full mag. He felt the patting of someone's hand on the back of his shoulder.  
"Oi, Schoolboy. We're moving out." Sergeant John 'Soap' MacTavish said as the young Corporal stood. "Command just cleared a new objective. We're going to help out the yanks." Nodding, Schoolboy followed Soap out into the clearing again where other members of the team were going through their kit, standing and kneeling in a semicircle as they worked. Walking over, Schoolboy took a knee and planted the butt of his submachinegun into the dirt, waiting for the new mission briefing.

The faint glow of the end of a cigar could be seen in the edge of the clearing nearby as Captain Price emerged from the foliage, slinging his M4.  
"Alright, the parameters of our mission have changed." He explained, "We have been reassigned to provide assistance to a US Navy SEAL Team not far up the mountain to our north." Price looked round at the small unit of men, "They are under heavy fire from Ultranationalist forces so expect a firefight. After linking up with the SEALs, we will escort them to our own LZ for exfil. Any questions?"

"Any reinforcements?" One of the operators asked.  
"We _are_ the reinforcements." Price answered.

….

"Contact!" Tommy hissed as he hunkered down. "Do not engage!" The other two stopped and imitated the action as they looked downhill to a small stream running through the forest. Around the stream was a handful of Russian soldiers, readying their weapons and defences.  
"Looks like they're setting up an ambush for us." Lee said, squinting.  
"Then what do we do?" Charlie asked, her teammate shook his head, unsure.

"We ambush the ambush." Tommy said, readying his gun. "Attack them from the sides and hit em with everything we've got." He looked across to Charlie, ordering his sister to take the left flank. "Lee, you take the right." He then said, "I'll go centre."

….

The Russians looked well-equipped. Light machineguns and grenade launchers appeared frequently in the hands of passing footsoldiers, ideal for flushing Lee and the others out into a killbox. _Ironic_. He thought. _They're setting up a killbox and they don't even know they're in one themselves._

Crouched, Lee crept behind a tree near the stream, slinging his rifle as he unsheathed a combat knife. Inching his way out from cover, he slowly approached the Russian group, most of which had their backs to him.

Eight men, varying in appearance. Whilst most of them were in the standard brown-green forest camouflage pattern of the Russian Army, a few seemed a lot less official in their outfits. Drab webgear, jeans and T-shirts, they looked more like volunteers and militia than actual soldiers. The closest man to him sat up on a small sandbag wall facing away from him, talking to someone else as he smoked a cigarette. Drawing near to the enemy soldier, Lee readied his knife as he prepared to tackle him.

His limbs a blur of motion, Lee grabbed the back of the Russian's collar, pulling him backwards over the sandbags and sinking the blade up to the hilt into his chest. The resultant yelp of terror caused the others to wheel around in shock, shouting to one another as their teammate suddenly died. Suppressed gunfire cracked as Tommy lay down fire on the remaining men.

Charging the next man, Lee planted his fist into his face followed by a jab between the ribs before pushing him down. Charlie had emerged nearby, wrestling an AK from the hands of a stunned Russian soldier.

Quickly raising his MK.12, Lee fired off a couple of shots into the soldier Charlie was fighting, downing the man for her as she grabbed his weapon. Racking the bolt of the AK, Charlie held down the trigger on the weapon and it kicked back with each round as several more Russians hit the floor.

In a matter of seconds, it was all over and silence quickly descended around the stream as the three SEALs swapped glances.  
"What now?" Charlie asked, checking the magazine on her Kalashnikov.  
"Same as before." Tommy replied, "Check your ammo and let's get ready to move."

"Good." Lee replied, walking over to them, "If we're really going to cross the border, the Chinese won't welcome us with open arms but at least-"  
Pain suddenly ripped through Lee's abdomen as he heard the zip of a bullet going subsonic. Dropping to his knees as he clutched the wound, sound slowly faded out to an eerie ringing in his ear. Watching as the others levelled their guns and fired over his shoulder, he dropped over against the rock, dazed and stunned as the pain still burned through his stomach.

Rolling his head, he watched the last Russian soldier go down. He must have been the one who shot him. How the hell did they miss him? Was he playing dead? Lee didn't know.

"Lee? Is that you?" A woman's voice called out. He looked up to see a figure approaching him, a warm smile growing on her face. It was Sophie again. Lee didn't care if she was real or not, he reached out to her as the woman drew nearer. "You need to get up." She said firmly. "Your friends need you. I need you." Sophie extended an arm and gently stroked the side of Lee's bearded face. "You're a fighter, you don't quit." Her eyes met his, staring deep into the man's soul. "Please just get up."

Lee jolted awake again to Charlie grimacing at the bleeding hole in his stomach. He tried to sit up when a surge of fire ran up his gut.  
"It's bad." Charlie said, "The bullet looks as if it went through a kidney. You're losing a lot of blood." She explained grimly.

Tommy was off to one side listening intently to a captured Russian radio. Foreign dialects chattered back and forth as the Lieutenant shook his head, standing up off of the rock he was sat on "There's no time." He said urgently, "Reinforcements are en route. A whole platoon'll be on us any minute now." He looked at the other two. "We can't outrun them."

"I'll stay." Lee spoke up, breaking the silence. "I'll hold them off as long as I can for you two to get away."  
Charlie shook her head angrily. "No way!" She shouted. "We're not leaving you! We don't leave people behind!" Her brother nodded in agreement. "We do everything together, Lee. We _all_ run or we _all_ stay."

The SEAL tried forcing himself up, clenching his teeth to supress the pain as he managed a half-stand as Tommy knelt down next to him, checking over his rifle.  
Lee gave him a stare as if to say "You know I have to do this."  
"Let me stay." He said. "I'll keep them busy."

He grabbed the back of his squadmate's head, bringing their dirt-and-blood-stained foreheads together. Closing his eyes, Lee knew what he had to do. Tommy knew he couldn't stop him.

Pushing away, Tommy stood handing him the remaining spare magazine of his M4, saluting the man as Charlie did the same.  
"It's been an honor." He said solemnly.  
"Honor's all mine. Don't stop. Just keep going." Lee replied, picking up his MK.12.

"See you in Hell, brother." Tommy said before turning to leave with Charlie.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:  
Ptelvoisky advanced through the woods with Nevski in tow. The platoon was fanning out as the closed on the last known position of the SEALs. Major Konstantinov had informed them that a rear guard unit had been ambushed and contact had been lost. It didn't matter now, though. They had them in their grasp and it was only a matter of time before they got their justice.

….

Lee was alone now. Hobbling along, he splashed through the stream to the other side, finding a large placement of rocks where he could set up a good firing position. Beyond the rocks was another gradual downward slope, allowing him to make a slow retreat to delay them as long as he could.

Ignoring the searing pain of his broken body, raw instinct kicked in as Lee flicked out the MK.12's bipod again, setting himself prone behind the rock formation. He had six round left in his magazine. There were twelve in the other plus the two mags for his pistol. _That should be enough_. He thought. Chances were, he was going to die before running out of bullets.

What felt like hours slowly ticked by as Lee searched for targets to begin to appear. Lying in wait, an air of confidence grew in him. He truly felt alive waiting for the battle. In a way, his wife was right, Sophie did always say that he was never truly alive when he was out of combat. A pang of guilt hit him. The last conversation he had had with his wife was an argument and now there was no way that he would ever see her again. There were so many things in his life Lee had left unfulfilled, put off to another day rather than experiencing them first-hand. He wanted to become a father, raise children and live to see them grow and have children of their own. He wanted to go right until the end at his wife's side, growing old with her as the world changed around them. But none of that was going to happen.

Shaking his head, Lee cleared his thoughts. _He was here, in the now_. He was keeping Tommy and Charlie safe. They were his family. He was keeping his family safe. Right until eh end.  
Movement up ahead caught his eye as several Russians arrived at the other side of the stream, inspecting the bodies of their fallen comrades. Lee picked a target and drew a deep breath, his finger hovering on the trigger.

….

"Which way?" Charlie asked, heart pounding in her chest as she ran.  
"It doesn't matter, just don't stop!" Tommy replied, only barely keeping ahead of his sister. _There had to be some other form of rescue, right?_ Tommy thought as he ran. _They couldn't just be left alone out here._

Gunshots cracked out behind him, snapping the Lieutenant out of his thoughts as Charlie shot him a mournful look. Lee had started firing. They had to hurry and get enough distance between themselves and the closing Russians.

….

" **CONTACT! GET DOWN!"** Konstantinov roared, diving behind a rock as one of the other squadmates was cut down by a bullet to the head. The platoon fanned out, finding cover as they tried to spot the source of the suppressed sniper fire, returning bursts of Kalashnikov fire from their positons.

Ptelvoisky had lost Nevski. The man had disappeared behind him when the firing started. Looking around, he called out tot eh younger soldier but to no avail. Poking out of cover, he fired at the rocks across the stream.

….

Lee slid down the side of the rock as bullets ricocheted past him. Swapping magazines, he began to pull back down the hill.  
" **I see him!** " A Russian voice called out behind him and Lee spun, dropping the soldier in a few quick shots. The trooper tumbled down the hillside past him as he limped away. More contacts to his left. Le fired at them, his MK.12 Coughing with each trigger pull.

A bullet sliced through his leg and he collapsed. Crying out in pain, he rolled onto his back and returned fire. Forcing himself up again, the SEAL levelled the rifle at a Russian behind a nearby tree and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked. He was out.

Swinging the weapon back, Lee threw the MK.12 at the soldier, knocking him off his feet as Lee unholstered his M1911. Popping a few shots into him, the SEAL kept moving. They were all around him now. Firing blindly into the trees as he staggered along, he dropped the empty magazine and slammed a new one home. Seven more shots. He had to make them count.

Another round caught him square in the chest and he was thrown backwards, going end over end over a fallen tree log. Bones crunched and dust kicked up as the man fell. Stopping himself, he looked down at the wound. His chest burned when he tried to take a breath, only managing a faint wheeze as air failed to enter a collapsed lung.

….

Nevski had let Ptelvoisky far behind now. He had to finish this. He had managed to wound the American and was now closing in for the kill. Stepping up onto the log, h pointed his AK-47 down at the man, the rifle trembling in his clenched hands with pure rage as he let out a scream of anger.

….

 ** _BLAM  
_** Lee put a round through the Russian's forehead.

 ** _BLAM_**

And another one for good measure.

 ** _BLAM_**

And another out of desperation. The body doubled over and fell on him like a ten ton weight. Pushing the body off of him, he grabbed on to the log and pulled himself to his feet once more, falling to his knees as he dragged himself along, painfully wheezing with each breath he took.

He fired off another two shots at the soldiers closing in on him before pain zipped through his left bicep and he gasped in shock, slamming against the side of a tree. Slumping down the side of it, Lee aimed his pistol, firing it again and again. The gun cracked a final time before the slide of the 1911 locked back, smoke still climbing from the now-exposed barrel. Choking, Lee dropped the gun and sat back against the tree. That was it.

He could only hear two sounds in the whole world; the thumping of his heart and the dry pained gasps for air coming from his lungs. He watched as a Russian soldier hunkered down nearby, pointing his weapon at him.

Lee looked to the sky before gently closing his eyes. He pictured Sophie in his mind. He imagined them on their wedding day. She looked more beautiful than ever, wrapping her arms around him and smiling. "I love you" She said.  
"I love you too." He replied.  
 _I love you too._

He felt the bullet pass through his skull and Lee fell away into blackness. Lee "Tombstone" Hawkins, a US Navy SEAL, died alone on a mountainside in Kyrgyzstan.

 **And with that, Lee is gone. One more chapter to go, people. This is where the story plays into the beginning of That Was Then This Is Now. Thanks for reading and sorry for the delays.  
Some music to help set the tone:  
watch?v=Dyli1qrZXck**


	16. Final Chapter

Chapter 16:  
"RUN CHARLIE, RUN!" yelled Tommy.

Charlie stumbled over a stump, falling onto the hard ground below her. She dragged her shin over jagged rock and felt warm blood ooze from her leg.

"AHHGH!" She cried out in pain. Charlie attempted to lift herself up off of the ground however a sharp pain ran up the woman's leg and she immediately dropped back down. Looking ahead into the forest she saw figures approaching. _God_ , she thought. _Why did this have to happen? Why did we have to volunteer for this op?_ Charlie closed her eyes, knowing death was inevitable and that there was no escape from her fate. They were getting closer and she could hear the pounding of their feet was becoming louder and louder.

Hopefully, they'd kill her quickly, as she didn't want the full death experience of laying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood, moaning in pain. Suddenly she was pulled away from her thoughts as someone pulled her up to her feet again.

"Come on, I'm getting you out of this alive!" yelled Tommy. Charlie opened her eyes to see him firing at the enemy, which was pretty hopeless at this point. Although he was pretty damn persistent on getting both of them out alive.

After finishing off as many enemies as possible, he jogged over to her and wrapped one of her arms around his neck. After narrowly dodging a bullet he picked his sister up and began to sprint in the opposite direction.

"Put me down!" Charlie shouted, "Save yourself and leave me. If one of us is going to survive it should be you!" The blood was now rapidly pouring down her leg, making the SEAL feel dizzy and lightheaded. It was safe to say she wasn't enjoying the situation one bit.

"Don't be do noble and shut up!" Tommy ordered, panting. "What kind of brother would leave his sister to die in a forest filled with Russians?" He unholstered a Glock 18 from a pouch on his chest, "Here, take this!" He said, shoving it into Charlies' hand. "Don't miss." He joked.

"No promises!" She yelled back over the gunfire.

An explosion nearby threw Tommy off of his feet, which brought Charlie down with him. Her body hit the ground with a thump and they rolled down a rocky hill. She felt her leg snap when it hit a bush on the way down.

"HOLY SHIT!" Charlie screamed. The pain was unbearable now. She must have broken it, which made their chances of escape even slimmer.

 _Wait. Where was Tommy?_  
Panic began to set in as she looked around for her brother. Finally, Charlie spotted him laying next to a rock, but her heartbeat only picked up when she saw the blood streaming down the side of his head.

"Tommy! TOMMY!" _Oh God please don't let him be dead!_ Charlie thought. She began to crawl over to him, using every bit of strength left in the SEALs' body. After lightly slapping his face a few times, he began to stir as his head moved.

"Charlie? Where are you?" She finally reached him and grabbed his shoulder. Quickly he turned over revealing a large bloody cut on his forehead.

"You okay?" He asked, placing a hand on his sisters' arm.

"Well I probably broke my leg…but yeah, I am. You?"

"Fine, I guess." Charlie gave him a weak smile, which fell into a frown when she heard Russian voices approaching them.

 **"Sir, I think I saw them go this way."** The voice sounded like it belonged to a younger soldier.

 **"Remember comrades, we want them dead. Russia doesn't need any more POWs."** An older man yelled. Sounds of agreement rang out from the group.

"We should probably get going." Tommy sprang up, grabbing Charlie by the waist to support her injured leg. Damn did it hurt. They continued running –limping- away from the Russians who were getting closer by the minute.

"Charlotte…" Tommy started. This was serious, she realised. He never used her full name.

"Yeah?" She answered through clenched teeth.

"If I don't…If we don't make it, I just want you to know I love you." You're the best sister I could have asked for." Charlie could hear them getting closer.

"Tommy we don't have time to be sentimental-''

"No, seriously. I mean it." Tommy replied. "You're like a mother to me. You were always there for me and cared for me when Mom couldn't." His eyes met hers. "I never thanked you for that."

"Well you can do that later." She replied, cutting him off. "I think we're a little too busy to be worrying about stuff like that." Charlie felt like she was fading.

 **"Sir, I see them!"**

 **"Ptelvoisky; shoot the man. He's stronger. He must die first."**

 _Fuck! Why did I have to get hurt?_ Charlie thought, Tommy could have gotten out of here if she hadn't broken her leg. _This is all my fault…_

 **"On my mark!"** The voice yelled out.  
 **"ONE!  
"TWO!"  
"MARK!"**

Charlie felt Tommy fall to the ground and soon she was crumpled up next to him.  
"TOMMY!" She screamed, tears beginning to stream down her face as she frantically climbed over him.  
"Fuck! Tommy, its' okay…I've got you!" She panted between sobs while applying pressure to his bleeding stomach.

"Charlotte… It's no use…" The Lieutenant gasped, "I…Love you…" he said quietly. Charlie laughed weakly as she held his hand. Tears began to fall down her face despite her attempts to hold them back.

"You just told me that…" She knew this wasn't the time for joking. However she needed to distract him from the blood pouring from his own stomach. She needed to distract herself from the dark reality setting in.

Tommy smiled a bit, but went limp shortly after.

Charlie whimpered uncontrollably, shaking as she slowly got to her feet as the figures closed in behind her.  
" _YOU FUCKING BASTARDS KILLED HIM!"_ She roared with all her strength and anger at them. " _WHY DON'T YOU JUST FUCKIGN SHOOT ME TOO? JUST LIKE HIM!_ " She looked around at them, arms outstretched as she awaited the end.

They began to laugh. The older ne raised his gun at her and Charlie closed her eyes, preparing herself for the pain of the gunshot.  
BLAM

Charlie didn't feel the bullet hit her. Confused, she opened her eyes to a sight she didn't believe. More gunshots cracked out as camouflaged silhouettes emerged from the forest around her, firing at the Russians who dropped left and right. She looked on in awe as an older, bearded man in a Bowie hat gunned down the older Russian soldier, Konstantinov. The younger Russian, Ptelvoisky, lay flat on the ground, drawing a pistol before several bursts of blood erupted from his chest and he cried out before rolling over dead. In less than ten seconds, the entire Russian platoon had been wiped out.

As the figures began to sweep the area, Charlie managed brief glimpses of them as the older man gave out orders. "Ghost, take left! Schoolboy I want you on comms!" Charlie noticed their insignias. Daggers with wings. British SAS.

One of them approached her and Charlie backed away with the last of her energy, eyes wide in fear. He was a large man, not much older than her. His head was shaved clean save for a jet black Mohawk running across the top of his scalp.  
"It's okay, Lass. I won't hurt you." He said with a heavy Scottish accent. "I'm Soap."  
Charlie stopped and stared at him, barely able to make out the figure through the tears welling in her eyes. Her head never hurt as badly as it did now.

"Who's the lad that was killed?" He asked, gesturing to the body lay nearby.

"His name's Tommy. And he's my brother…" Charlie could barely keep her eyes open any longer and slipped into unconsciousness, Soap rushing over to catch her as she fell…

…

Bravo Six sat aboard the helicopter as it flew out of the valley. The team checked their weapons and looked on at the sight. Wrapped up in a body bag, Tommy lay at their feet.

Schoolboy sat up from Charlie, who now lay on a stretcher, still unconscious as Captain price paced up and down on the comms.

"One survivor, sir." He explained. "We're taking her back to FOB Thunder now. ETA One hour."

Soap looked over at Schoolboy.  
"Will she live?" He asked.  
"She's seriously fucked up, but she'll live." He said reassuringly. "She's been through a hell of a lot from the looks of it."

Soap looked over to the body of Charlie's brother and the mountains beyond outside the helicopter. "We probably don't know the half of it."

 _That Was Then; This Is Now_

 **And that's the end of** ** _Here In The Now_** **. I can't thank you enough for reading and sticking through all the way to the end despite so many delays and setbacks. Special thanks to WheresDaBeef and KING112 for the go-ahead to write a prequel to their story.  
You can check it out here:  
s/9987209/1/That-Was-Then-This-Is-Now**

 **Once again, thanks for reading and have a great day** **J**


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